It’s funny how smells, things we touch and stuff we see can trigger memories we never knew we had.

Last week, a colleague wrote a quick piece about rummaging through old CDs and drumming up memories from her past.

Since reading her column, I had been thinking a lot about what’s around me and the memories those things have held.

I celebrated a birthday over the weekend and decided to gift myself a new video game for my Nintendo 3DS. After playing the new game for an hour, I started playing a classic Nintendo game — “Super Mario Bros. 3.” Talk about a classic.

The game originally was released Feb. 12, 1990, for NES. Mario was the theme to my birthday party in 1990, having received many gifts with him and other Mushroom Kingdom characters. I spent a lot of time playing that game as a kid.

I’ve played it previously on my Wii and 3DS. But playing the game on my birthday triggered memories of playing “Super Mario Bros. 3” when I was younger — eating Doritos and chipped ham sandwiches while playing Nintendo with my brother or friends, staying up far later than I should have.

A lot has changed since I first was introduced to the Koopalings in “SMB 3.” I’m glad I’m able to remember those times, and that I still have a chance to relive them.