Roses aren’t just for Valentine’s Day, or even your significant other
Since 2020, Cynthaya Johnson has been handing out roses to strangers, for no reason other than to brighten their day. We all need more of this in our lives.
My husband is mild-mannered and sweet. I rarely get mad at him. But on one Valentine’s Day, I didn’t get so much as a single rose. Let’s just say I wasn’t too pleased.
I’ll spare you the details. That was years ago. We laugh about it now.
We’ve been through a lot together. He gets me. I get him. After a few hiccups over the years, I’ve made peace with the fact that he’s not one for observing Hallmark holidays. If I want a Valentine’s Day treat, I buy it myself. He shows his love in countless other ways, which is what really matters. That Feb. 14 incident, I wasn’t mad because I didn’t get anything. What I really was after was a little show of appreciation.
Isn’t that what we all want? Not just this time of year, but all the time?
That’s one reason why I’ve been keeping an eye on what Cynthaya Johnson is doing with her “Give Me My Roses” campaign.
Since 2020, she has been walking up to total strangers in Philadelphia — selected at random — and handing them floral bouquets for no reason other than to brighten their day. The flowers Johnson distributes often aren’t real, but the sentiments behind them are. It’s her way of honoring people and reminding them to celebrate their loved ones while they still can.
Johnson was inspired to start her nonprofit following the death of her beloved older brother, Charles, in April 2020. He’d been a healthy 62-year-old shortly before coming down with COVID-19. When stunned family members got word that he was on a ventilator and that his situation was dire, they rushed to Lankenau Medical Center to say their final goodbyes. On her way, Johnson stopped and picked up a dozen red roses to give him. She was one of 10 who showed up and had to wait her turn before she could see him. But he died before she could give him the roses.
Johnson still recalls how she dropped the flowers onto the floor, distraught about words that had gone unsaid between them.
Later, she vowed to herself that going forward, she would do what she could to celebrate people around her now, instead of waiting. And that’s the genesis for her nonprofit, Give Me My Roses. “I just didn’t want to see people crying over people when they are gone. Let’s give roses while we are here,” Johnson told me recently. “Roses are not always in the format of roses. It’s also in the format of just acknowledging and recognizing someone for what they are doing.”
These days, Johnson likes to gift roses to essential workers, but it could be anyone. In addition to handing out roses, Johnson carries a flower-covered microphone that she uses to interview people about who in their lives deserves to get roses, too. She calls these mini interviews “rose confessions” and posts them on her Instagram page.
She told me she doesn’t target specific neighborhoods or times and often ends up handing out flowers while she’s doing errands.
A little over a year ago, after former 6abc anchor Jim Gardner hosted his last news broadcast, Johnson made her way to the Target parking lot on City Line Avenue where the then 74-year-old was greeting fans and presented him with a flower-covered poster. “I went up to him and said, ‘Hi, Jim. I’ve been watching you for years, and I’m so sad that you’re leaving. I’ve got something for you,” she recalled. “We’re giving you your roses before you leave the station.”
I met Johnson when she was interviewed for the “Sexy Singles” feature that used to run in the Daily News. We’ve stayed in touch off and on over the years.
I’ve watched as she’s built what’s essentially a one-woman, self-funded campaign into a feature highlighted on Fox 29 and 6abc.
Still, Johnson could do much more if she had volunteers, or if she teamed up with a nonprofit to get at-risk children involved. A cash sponsor would come in handy, too, especially since she has started handing out gift baskets. Johnson also is hoping someone will donate a van to drive around her giveaways.
“I just want people to keep in their head every day that the next minute is not promised,” Johnson told me. “So we all need to acknowledge and recognize and hug and kiss and be grateful and thankful that you are here today. And keep that motto going to give roses to someone every day.”
Research shows that givers reap psychological rewards from being generous.
Johnson’s campaign may not be huge, but it’s her way of sharing light during these last, cold days of winter. If more people follow her lead, it could help the streets of Philly become a little kinder, one rose at a time.