[Sundaycommunity] (no subject)

[Catherine Walther]

How wonderful! Thank you, Catherine

When life wins there will be no losers. A'Ida Shibli


On Fri, Nov 28, 2025 at 2:59 PM Martha Crean via Sundaycommunity <
sundaycommunity at lists.integralshift.ca> wrote:

> That is unbelievably beautiful
> Thank you
>
> On Fri, Nov 28, 2025 at 2:21 PM Dean Riley via Sundaycommunity <
> sundaycommunity at lists.integralshift.ca> wrote:
>
>> Friday afternoon greetings to all…
>>
>> I saw this item on Facebook this afternoon and was moved by the story. I
>> thought I’d share it you all.
>>
>> Blessings…
>>
>> Dean.
>>
>> -::-::-::-
>>
>> "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."
>>
>>
>> …
>> From Facebook:
>> Astonishing
>> By Mary Nelson________________________________________
>>
>> Sundaycommunity mailing list
>> To send message: sundaycommunity at integralshift.ca
>> To manage Subscription: https://sundaycommunity.integralshift.ca
>> To Unsubscribe send email to:
>> sundaycommunity-unsubscribe at integralshift.ca
>> To Subscribe send email to: sundaycommunity-subscribe at integralshift.ca
>> Link for Zoom mass Sundays 11AM EST:
>> https://us02web.zoom.us/j/83018087848?pwd=Yjh4VnV6QXE2MFRzbEZwWUpacmJ5UT09
>>
>>
>> ________________________________________
>
> Sundaycommunity mailing list
> To send message: sundaycommunity at integralshift.ca
> To manage Subscription: https://sundaycommunity.integralshift.ca
> To Unsubscribe send email to: sundaycommunity-unsubscribe at integralshift.ca
> To Subscribe send email to: sundaycommunity-subscribe at integralshift.ca
> Link for Zoom mass Sundays 11AM EST:
> https://us02web.zoom.us/j/83018087848?pwd=Yjh4VnV6QXE2MFRzbEZwWUpacmJ5UT09
>
>
>
-------------- next part --------------
An HTML attachment was scrubbed...
URL: <http://lists.integralshift.ca/pipermail/sundaycommunity-integralshift.ca/attachments/20251128/6893b34e/attachment.htm>