Radio Diary: In Troubled Times, Finding Peace In A Simple Routine

This diary originally aired on July 1, 2020.

We want to end the week by stepping away from the din and rancor. And to a place of remembrance and peace.

David Pettee used to take regular morning walks around Fresh Pond Reservoir in Cambridge, Massachusetts.

David had cancer. The walks brought him hope and peace.

“I am someone living with advanced cancer in the midst of active chemotherapy who has decided that I won’t let this virus drive me into negativity,” he wrote on his neighborhood website. “One way that I keep positive is to walk around Fresh Pond almost every day.”

David died on September 13th. Today, in remembrance, we invite you to listen again.

In this diary … we hear from:

David Pettee, a Unitarian Universalist minister from Cambridge, Massachusetts. He died on September 13th. His daughter Sophie wrote that it’s a gift she can listen to the recordings of her father’s outings as she walks the same route around Fresh Pond.

This article was originally published on WBUR.org. [Copyright 2020 NPR]