Erin Johnston

Nerdy nurse. Hangry is a real state of mind.

[Erin Johnston @eeron]

@Petes_Updates Sad

[katie @katieonleafstwt]

listen I know now is NOT the time but wow

[jonathan lekkerimäki pr department @savedbytolopilo]

i love that seth jarvis' buddies have an instagram because the concept of dropping a bunch of dudes from manitoba into milan italy is an incredible pitch for a sitcom

[Mr PitBull Stories @MrPitbull07]

"My name's Raymond. I'm 73. I work the parking lot at St. Joseph's Hospital. Minimum wage, orange vest, a whistle I barely use. Most people don't even look at me. I'm just the old man waving cars into spaces.
But I see everything.

Like the black sedan that circled the lot every morning at 6 a.m. for three weeks. Young man driving, grandmother in the passenger seat. Chemotherapy, I figured. He'd drop her at the entrance, then spend 20 minutes hunting for parking, missing her appointments.

One morning, I stopped him. "What time tomorrow?"
"6:15," he said, confused.
"Space A-7 will be empty. I'll save it."
He blinked. "You... you can do that?"
"I can now," I said.

Next morning, I stood in A-7, holding my ground as cars circled angrily. When his sedan pulled up, I moved. He rolled down his window, speechless. "Why?"
"Because she needs you in there with her," I said. "Not out here stressing."
He cried. Right there in the parking lot.

Word spread quietly. A father with a sick baby asked if I could help. A woman visiting her dying husband. I started arriving at 5 a.m., notebook in hand, tracking who needed what. Saved spots became sacred. People stopped honking. They waited. Because they knew someone else was fighting something bigger than traffic.
But here's what changed everything, A businessman in a Mercedes screamed at me one morning. "I'm not sick! I need that spot for a meeting!"

"Then walk," I said calmly. "That space is for someone whose hands are shaking too hard to grip a steering wheel."

He sped off, furious. But a woman behind him got out of her car and hugged me. "My son has leukemia," she sobbed. "Thank you for seeing us."

The hospital tried to stop me. "Liability issues," they said. But then families started writing letters. Dozens. "Raymond made the worst days bearable." "He gave us one less thing to break over."

Last month, they made it official. "Reserved Parking for Families in Crisis." Ten spots, marked with blue signs. And they asked me to manage it.

But the best part? A man I'd helped two years ago, his mother survived, came back. He's a carpenter. Built a small wooden box, mounted it by the reserved spaces. Inside? Prayer cards, tissues, breath mints, and a note,

"Take what you need. You're not alone. -Raymond & Friends"
People leave things now. Granola bars. Phone chargers. Yesterday, someone left a hand-knitted blanket.
I'm 73. I direct traffic in a hospital parking lot. But I've learned this: Healing doesn't just happen in operating rooms. Sometimes it starts in a parking space. When someone says, "I see your crisis. Let me carry this one small piece."

So pay attention. At the grocery checkout, the coffee line, wherever you are. Someone's drowning in the little things while fighting the big ones.

Hold a door. Save a spot. Carry the weight no one else sees.
It's not glamorous. But it's everything."

Let this story reach more hearts....

Credit: Mary Nelson

[PeterboroughExaminer @PtboExaminer]

Port Hope council to consider toys for tickets swap-out ahead of the holiday season https://t.co/Ix7zWdWRZO

[Ontario Ministry of Health @ONThealth]

Have a publicly accessible #AED? Register it. It could save a life.

https://t.co/ARpqdIF8yH

#WorldRestartAHeartDay

[TSN @TSN_Sports]

CANADA IS OFF TO THE RUGBY WORLD CUP FINAL!!!! #RWC2025

[V @VictoriaEgreen]

TW// Hockey Canada, WJC 2018, SA

The Crown reopened this case against E.M.’s wishes. Women don’t report/go to the police for a reason and we’re seeing the ‘why’ play out in real time

[Erin Johnston @eeron]

@EVILSCRE4M

[Sam McKee @SamAMcKee]

#LeafsForever

[Erin Johnston @eeron]

@TanyaRanne @ApolloGrillPtbo Oh man, this is really disappointing.

[Erin Johnston @eeron]

@evildeadthing

[Erin Johnston @eeron]

@thehorrorkid

[MichaelHurleyCUPE @HurleyOCHUCUPE]

How can ending the minimum price for alcohol be a priority for the government, when a grandfather died in an ER after waiting for 11 hours this week? Premier Ford won't fund the hospitals to meet demand and chides us for abusing ERs at a tour stop in SSM.

https://t.co/BS4bh4JDMu

[Bev 🇨🇦 @Garnet_2203]

Doug Ford needs to go. Imagine your parents being treated this way? #DougFordIsCorrupt #DougFordFailedOntario #dougford #healthcare #VoteFordOut #healthcare @BonnieCrombie

[Erin Johnston @eeron]

@Petes_Updates Disappointing!

[Josh Trebach, MD @jtrebach]

being in the hospital when a fire alarm goes off is wild because the nurses/doctors just look around and go “is this real…?” followed by “well things can’t get much worse than they currently are 🤷‍♂️” and then go back to what they were doing

[Erin Johnston @eeron]

@HoundsInsider Sad!

[Erin Johnston @eeron]

@evildeadthing

[Erin Johnston @eeron]

@evildeadthing Scream (really, any in the series but the first one holds my heart a little stronger)