Harvard University

Two hundred and two Hot Wheels cars, each two by five inches long, adorned with flames and spoilers, lined edges of my room. My mother would urge me to put them away and go play outside, but I never wanted to. I drove those cars all around the house. They intrigued my six-year-old self. I loved my collection that I had handpicked on my own. Each single one of those 99-cent cars was mine. I never fathomed, however, that it would not take nearly so long for that collection to disappear as it took to grow. After July 6, 2006, I never saw my collection again. On that day, I squinted to get one…