ABSTRACT
It has been 20 years since the initial reports concerning the plasma membrane (PM) Ca pump. I was fortunate enough to be in on the “ground floor” of the idea and to have witnessed the tremendous progress in this area over these 20 years. What follows will be a personal and hopefully factual account of my view of this field. For any shortcomings of fact, improper citations, or less than accurate recollections, I must take responsibility. Credit belongs to a wide range of collaborators and competitors over many years. Unless otherwise noted, reference will be to the human red blood cell (RBC), which has been such an extremely useful model cell in the development of the ideas considered here.
