An autistic woman has reportedly realised that everything is going to be okay after an older woman working in a shop called her “love”.

Karen Hoyland, 36, was feeling like a swamp gremlin until she walked into a cake shop staffed by 60-year-old Alma Montague, one of those women who appear to glow with the light of a thousand angels.

Hoyland said: “She didn’t seem to mind my endless questions about dietary requirements, my awkward dithering over whether to get a brownie or a cupcake, and she didn’t rush me when I was fumbling with my card. And then she said ‘Here you go, love’ as she handed over my cake and I swore I was lifted a foot off the ground by the sheer affection of it.”

“A vision of her adopting me à la Miss Honey flashed before my eyes, but I managed to tamp it down in time to choke out a ‘Thank you’ and tear myself away from her loving gaze.”

Montague was approached for comment, but our reporter was too distracted by her radiant kindness and had to leave before it irreversibly tore open their mother wound.

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