A rose: paying it forward

This was a first. As I have done for many years, I stood outside the Cleveland Browns’ playground yesterday wearing my 1966 U.S. Army field jacket while holding my peace flag, greeting football fans heading to the stadium for the Browns-Ravens game. A young boy, maybe eight years old, handed me a long-stemmed red rose. It was wrapped in cone-shaped plastic, half of which was clear and the other half silver. I thought about “paying it forward,” but unsure to whom. After the game started, I walked to Tower City and boarded the Blue Line Rapid home. As I was about to get off at the Avalon Road stop I slipped the wrapped rose through a small opening in the driver’s window and said to her, “This is for you. A boy gave me this rose outside the Browns stadium, but I know women appreciate flowers more than men.” She smiled and said “Thank you. I’ll take good care of it.”