Baudrillard writes in Simulations that, "for ethnology to live, it's object must die." This idea brings up the concept of the inevitable loss and disintegration of an object that is frequently used. When we love something, our impulse is to interact with it as frequently as possible. But, it is this interaction itself that wears down the thing, making it harder to use. This reminded me of my Dina, a stuffed toy dinosaur which I have had since I was a baby too young to remember. My parents wisely purchased another copy of the toy when they realized how upset I would be if the first one went missing. It never did, however, and both still exist today. One, faded and torn apart, travels with me everywhere, while a pristine copy sits at home in my closet. While the clean, new copy is objectively nicer to look at, brighter, containing more stuffing, with a neck that stands up on it's own, it is not truly mine. The ragged version belongs to me in a way nothing else ever will. It has gone with me everywhere, my entire life, I have a story for each rip and faded patch. While it is my love of this toy that has caused it to fall apart, the disintegration is actually what I love most about it. This is what gives it meaning, makes it not just a toy, but a representation of my childhood and the love that I have and will continue to pour into it.