Sometimes, in the bleakness of winter it’s easy to forget that winter ends, especially when you’ve not long come back from Australia in summer. For nearly the whole of February I had felt disgruntled at having to dwell in such a cold, dark and wet part of the world as Dawlish. Less than a week ago I had thought to myself that the town looked tired and shop facades needed a lick of paint but now something was different.

I’d heard some bad news about one of the ladies at pharmacy where I pick up my prescriptions – not that I really knew her – all the same, I had begun my walk down into the town with a heavy heart. Then the sun came out and Dawlish went from grey to colour – it was like “The Wizard of Oz”. The air was crisp, not wet and cold, and signs of spring had burst into life all over the place; there were primulas growing in flower boxes over the rails of the wrought iron footbridge and daffodils in the grass under the bare trees. Swans preened and cavorted in the brook and plump pigeons posed for photographs.

I had a spring in my step as I wandered along the side of the brook. I was bending down under the bough of a tree to take a photo when I noticed a familiar figure pushing a wheelchair coming towards me.

“Are you still working at the butcher’s?” I asked.

“No Sally,” he grinned, “I’ve been retired for twenty years!”

“Can it really be that long? Anyway, you’re not old enough to have been retired for twenty years,” I said.

“I had to retire early to look after my wife. Jill has had Multiple Sclerosis for thirty-nine years,” he explained.

He went on to tell me that she lived in a nursing home now for she requires two carers around the clock (her organs are failed or failing) and, because the sun had come out, he was taking her for a walk by the brook. Jill can’t walk at all, nor can she write – her hands shake too much – but she chatted and laughed, and enjoyed the fresh air and the feeling of spring.

I had a few tears as I skipped off (still springing with spring) on my way home and I felt so grateful to be me on the fine day.