Love For Pinball

My love for pinball started when I was around 10 years old in the early 70s growing up in New Orleans. I played at a resturant where my mom worked after school and on weekends. The pins were all electromechanical and mostly Gottliebs. During the late 70s they brought in some solidstate pins. As i got older and high school and other things came into play, I lost touch with pinball. The video arcade machines of the 80s didn't help either. As life went on and i got married, had kids, and with the passage of time, pinball seem to become a thing of the past. Then one day about 12 years ago or so, the wife and I were watching a movie on tv. During a scene in the movie there it was. A pinball machine in the background. I said to my wife "hey look, a pinball machine". Seeing it sparked my memory and a renewed interest in pinball. Then one search on ebay and the rest is history. I have had many machines come and go in my collection over the last decade and have also started a side business of restoration and repair. EMs are my favorites (especially Gottliebs) but like the early solidstates also. My permanent collection contains  about 5 or 6 machines I will never sell, but have others that I buy, sell, and trade. When I play pinball, especially my Gottlieb EMs, it brings back such fond memories of those early days as a kid.