According to CBS Baltimore, a Johns Hopkins doctor now works in the same area where his grandmother used to clean.
Dr. Nelson Malone first came to Johns Hopkins Medicine as a student, unaware of the hospital’s ties to his family’s history. While he was there, he discovered from his relatives that his grandmother Marion had worked there in the 1950s, cleaning the same floors.
Marion moved to Baltimore from rural Virginia when she was approximately 20 years old in pursuit of work, getting a job as a housekeeper at Johns Hopkins and making a decent income.
Seven decades later, her grandson would be inspired by that small piece of family history to pursue his dream of becoming an emergency medicine doctor at the same hospital.
“Most of the people who come from communities like I come from, you don’t see that often. We don’t see people making it out of these circumstances,” explained Malone.
Dr. Malone was not only a first-generation high school graduate, but also a first-generation college and Harvard Medical School graduate, citing his grandmother as his inspiration, citing his grandmother’s empathy, compassion, and service as motivating him to pursue his own dreams. When his grandfather was sick, his grandmother Marion stepped in as caretaker, influencing Malone’s decision to become a doctor.
“Seeing her be that care provider to him played a huge role in my decision to go into medicine,” Malone told reporters.
Marion died in January of 2022, which was a sad loss. She did, however, get to witness her grandson become a resident doctor at Johns Hopkins before she passed away. Malone claims that it is all the validation he requires, and that he is appreciative for the path she has created for him.
“I’m beyond sort of what my nana, probably most people in my family, would have imagined. And so it was a beautiful thing that you know, her very last year here, she got to witness me finishing medical school and starting my career,” said Malone.
@drnelsonian: ✨𝑀𝒶𝓇𝒾𝑜𝓃 𝐿𝑒𝑒 𝑀𝒶𝓁𝑜𝓃𝑒✨
A self-proclaimed “country girl” 😏
And true gift to the world 🙏🏾
Sacrifice was habitual 💫
And selflessness, an understatement ☺️
Don’t start no trouble 😈
But don’t take no mess 😤
Sleeping full of spaghetti and Kool-Aid 🤤
Waking to smells of bacon and eggs 😋
Bus rides and running errands 🚍
With inherent goodies along the way 🤪
I call your WOF and raise to Jeopardy 💪🏾
Before SVU and wr[a]stling of course 🤼
From your late teen adventures 👀
Cleaning the floors of Hopkins 🙂
To a grandson becoming a doctor 👨🏾⚕️
In the very same halls ✊🏾
88 precious years 🙌🏾
And though many tears 🥺
Heaven got another angel 😇
Love you Nana ❤️
Rest easy baby girl 🕊
1/6/34-1/30/22 ✨
