Sunday Night With John: The Power of Woo!

Every athletic event I participated in growing up, you could heard my mom on more than one occasion scream, "Woo, Woo, Woo, Woo," over and over again to support my team or me. It was loud, it was often and it was an easy thing for my friends to pick on me about. During practice when we watched video of the game if my mom was sitting close enough to the camera, it would pick up my mom's cheers and the room would break up in laughter. Coach would make comments like, "Mrs. Derryberry was happy with that play" or, "you guys where playing so bad Mrs. Derryberry had to start cheering to get you motivated." 

While it was embarrassing, it allowed me to know that I was loved and cared about. Life is easier to enjoy and struggle through when you have some cheerleaders. My family has found other ways in my adult years to make me feel the power of the Woo! By driving across the four states to make it to an engagement party for me.  Or, my brother providing the money for me to start public speaking and my sister giving me a number of moments telling me to stop second-guessing myself.  We are a family of cheerleaders

Today I got to woo, woo, woo, for Anne, my fiancée, who sings in the Iowa City Chamber Choir at her first performance this afternoon. She had nine people show up to be her cheerleader and her comment when we got home was, it sure made me feel good to have that many people show up for me. Proving yet again most activities in life are enhanced by having a crowd and having that crowd be made up of people who want to cheer for you. 

Here's hoping one day my kids get the chance to hear the woo, woo, woo, woo from my mom, and to be honest I hope I get one more woo, woo, woo, woo moment from my mom, too.