Reunited, and it feels so good

     I may be strange due to the fact that I can name almost every camera I have used in my life and also tell you when I used it.  The very first camera I ever used is that Kodak Brownie in the masthead.  I used it in my very first photography course when I was 7 years old.  I can remember so many details from that class because I was so excited.  I knew at an early age that I wanted to be a photographer.  The class was in the summer.  I guess that we were told to use a Brownie because it would be easier to handle for little hands.  Also, the film was larger for when we had to develop and print the images.  Anyway, my next camera was a Minolta Hi-matic 7s which I was given when I was in the seventh grade.  When I got to high school I was given a Minolta SRT-201.  I really liked this camera.  I kept it for many years.  All through high school and college.  In grad school my work was more in medium format so my 35mm cameras took a back seat.  A guy I went to school with had an extra Minolta X-700 at the time and wanted to trade it for my SRT-201.  I traded it away.  Many years later I began to think of that camera that got away.  I felt a slight twinge when reminded of how it was the perfect weight for me.  I could hear the smooth sound of its shutter...  Flash forward to last week.  I was shopping around and there was a complete SRT-201 kit.  It was stretching its arms toward me while running across a sunny field carpeted with flowers.  I am happy to tell you that we are once again reunited and the world seems right once again.