I've been collecting since I was about 6 years old. My family was living in Cheyenne, WY and we had an alley behind our house. Once or twice a year a dump truck would lumber up the alley dumping a fresh layer of gravel. The dust would barely be settled before I was out there looking for anything that sparkled. My parents bought me a tumbler so I could polish my finds and things took off from there. I collected actively until I was 13 and we moved to Europe. I picked up a few things while we were there but we had limited space so I couldn't do much. The rest of my collection was in storage stateside. Years later, after military, marriage, and kids, my parents asked me to get the "boxes of rocks" out of their house so my collection was back in my hands. Still, with limited space, in boxes is where it stayed for another few years. Luckily for me, my mother-in-law moved to Tucson. Me and my family went for a visit and, of course, I picked up a few nice pieces while I was there. Seeing my passion for it, my lovely wife recommended I get a cabinet and put it all on display. She hadn't ever really seen everything I had so it was fun to get it all out. I started with one cabinet and am now up to four that are mostly full, between 350 and 400 specimens and growing. If you are looking at my photos, I have some great pieces, some ok pieces, and some not-so-great pieces. The wonderful thing about collecting is that it's a lifetime work in progress. Enjoy.