I didn't realize how much I needed a happy moment until I saw 18,000 hockey fans cheering for a stranger

The author went to see the Flyers play.

Courtesy of the author I was at a Flyers game when an 84-year-old woman appeared on the Jumbotron and stole the show.

The crowd cheered for her and booed the mascot, Gritty, whenever the camera switched away.

Watching thousands of strangers celebrate her brought me to tears during a difficult time.

Since our kids left for college , my husband and I have been to many Philadelphia Flyers games.

The most recent, against the Colorado Avalanche, felt magical, and it wasn't just the high of a second consecutive win after a nine-game losing streak.

There was an older woman, way up in the upper section, who, in a purely joyful moment, stole the show and captured the hearts of all 18,353 of us in attendance.

I'm calling her Good Luck Granny.

People were being shown on the Jumbotron During the third period, the Flyers were up 3-1, and the crowd was electric.

Could they make it two wins in a row? During TV time-outs, cameras stationed throughout the arena pan to fans — parents holding ear-muffed babies aloft, kids jumping up and down, waving "My 1st Flyers game!!" signs — or to our beloved mascot, Gritty , in his Chaos Corner, doing what Gritty does.

I love seeing the reactions of people who make it on the jumbotron, and, yes, I may have, on occasion, attempted to wave at a camera pointed in our direction.

Being at the game means losing myself and any worries I might have for a few hours in something everyone can agree on.

With less than 10 minutes left in the third period, the camera found a grey-haired, bespectacled woman, straight out of central casting, in a royal blue hoodie.

She was chair dancing, arms up in the air, her bright orange Flyers microfiber towel ready for waving.