So far away

Sometimes I regret the helplessness of distance.

We all make decisions about how and where we retire. We all have dreams to chase. Sometimes we end up on the other side of the world to where we used to live.

But it's a decision that carries a price.

News came this week of the death of a cameraman colleague and friend with whom I'd worked for 20 years at the Australian Broadcasting Corporation in Adelaide.

Peter was a good cameraman and a terrific bloke.

Rushing back, memories, details of some of the great stories and adventures I had with Peter all those years ago.

Now he's gone, at 72, of pulmonary fibrosis.

Peter's funeral is on Friday. There isn't even enough time to send a card, so I have asked some ex-ABC mates to convey my condolences to Peter's wife and family.

In February, I wrote about the regretful discovery that two old friends I knew in Morocco had died, and how I was so looking forward to re-connecting with them, after 40 years.

Now this.