“Oh, Sally, the sky is a beautiful pink!” said my dear old mum who is nearly blind. We were chatting on the phone at the time, a little earlier this evening. She must have been looking out of the window from her chair by the phone in her kitchen. Mum knew that after our call was finished I would go out onto our balcony to see the same sunset pink clouds.

Our house faces south-east so we get wonderful sunrises over the sea but never sunsets. However, occasionally (like this evening) the sky is aglow with some of the colours of the sun setting gloriously in the west. The back beach at Teignmouth, just three miles away, is the best place around here for taking in the sunsets, which reminds me…

The last time I was at the river beach as the sun went down was about a month ago, when it was still summer (if a tad cold, even so); Chris and I went with a party of family and friends to have an alfresco dinner on the tables outside the “Ship Inn” before going on to see a play (“Beyond Expectations”, which really was beyond expectations!). Loads of holiday-makers aswell as locals were out enjoying the sunny evening and the bustle of life on the river beach. Just prior to leaving for the play I thought I’d take a photograph of the scene. I was holding out my mobile camera in an outstretched arm when I recognised a face on the screen…

“It’s Nigel – isn’t it?” I beamed.

“Hello Sally,” Nigel answered, just as pleased to see me as I was to see him.

“You haven’t changed a bit!” I thrilled (it’s always great to note that people haven’t changed drastically over the years!).

“Nor have you,” he was equally as enthusiastic.

“I can’t remember how long it’s been since last I saw you,” I said.

“Surely it’s not that long ago,” he replied, “but I’m often here in the evenings if you ever want to see me.”

A pal of his laughed and we all laughed.

“Well, I have to go – we have a play to see in about five minutes – it was so good to see you – can I take a photo of you before I go?”

So I took a photo of Nigel and we kissed and hugged goodbye (his mate smiled). I didn’t tell Nigel that it must have been at least twenty years, perhaps more, since we met last. It wasn’t a long conversation for such an exciting reunion, I realise, but everyone was waiting… and we weren’t that great friends at school.