Derrick Rose brought in the new year by spreading love within his home city in an extra special way. On Jan. 2, the NBA legend opened a flower shop in downtown Chicago and invited fans to come and share the experience together. Paying homage to his last name, the 3× NBA All-Star gave out thousands of free roses as tokens of his appreciation.

Thousands of people queued up in a line that stretched for blocks downtown Thursday, all waiting for a pop-up flower shop to open. The lowlight of the experience was the long wait in the cold—but those who braved it said it was worth it.

On Thursday, hundreds of fans braved frigid temperatures to meet the Chicago Bulls icon at a pop-up flower shop in River North.