Until recently I hadn’t really thought about my childhood (I’d had a lot on my mind, mainly boring adult stuff like ’I wonder who the most economical central heating oil suppliers are’). I mean, I had thought about it, but I’d missed things out. Important things too. I’d thought about how we used to play as children, but not about how big trees seemed to me or how amazing butterflies were. I’d thought about how it was to build sand-castles but not about how it was to be afraid of the might-time. I’d lost stuff from my memory, or so I thought. It turned out I hadn’t lost it. The memories were there, deep down. A lot of them came flooding back the other day when I played Super Mario Bros on Super Nintendo for the first time in many years–

The controller felt amazing in my hands, all small and plastic, but that was nothing compared to the awesome cartridges. I’d forgotten just how massive they were and how satisfying it was to snap them in to place. And this was all before we even started playing, what excitement there was to come!

This is where the fairy-tale abruptly ends. The next thing I knew I was taking my first shot at the first level (not helped by the fact that my friend had been practicing and we were playing 2 player and I looked completely rubbish) and dying almost instantly. A turtle had killed me off! A turtle for goodness sake! There had been times when I was young when I had killed dozens of turtles, practically with my eyes closed too!

Here’s my point: sometimes revisiting the past is good. You’ll be amazed at all the other things you recall and discover. Have a go, you know you want to.