When I married my husband 21 years ago, I knew I would be married into a family…. not his family…although they are a part of our lives. No, the family I would marry into would be 4 men he loves and supports. That’s right Mick, Keith, Ronnie, and Charlie!!! They were on tour the year we were married so we had to make sure our date was cleared before we got married.

Next was our pregnancies. I had read that a fetus could hear music in utero so of course I strapped some headphones to my belly so they could hear the great classics…. Mozart, Beethoven, Tchaikovsky and Vivaldi!! My husband said, “if they are going to hear the real classics then they better listen to Angie, Satisfaction and Start me up to name a few.” Then there were the birthday parties…guitar parties one year with live music with the Stones for the birthday track, or the other year when the entire theme was The Rolling Stones!!

Next came my children performing on various occasions and the nervous tension! You would think some breathing exercises would do the trick but NO…it would be let’s go to the van and crank up the volume and listen to some Stones!!! Now Team Aziz has all listened to every Stones song, they have been a part of endless dinner conversations, lots of quizzing their dad on these 4 men etc. But it is my husband and my son that the Stones have lassoed their hearts!! Maybe it’s because my sons’ first concert was ‘A Bigger Bang’ in 2005 and yes, he was 4 years old!!!! It’s a bond they both have, love together and think is normal to track all over North America spending their hard-earned money to see and hear these guys!
So, when we were planning my sons grade 8 grad gifts of course a family trip to Cleveland was going to be the destination!!! Then the Stones announced a tour…so out of school and off work the guys went and enjoyed the Rock ‘n’ roll Hall of Fame and a Stones concert!!!! Now my son whose middle name is (William…the only Stone’s name my son could get approved after Bill Wyman) is graduating from high school and entering a music program playing the guitar (Keith) and Saxophone (Bobby Keys).
He even made a replica of one of Keith Richards guitar’s, a Fender Telecaster, in the guitar building course at school. In addition, any time there is project for music class or artwork where he can used Stones’ infused images he does.
So fast forward to the weeks ahead. My son was signed up for the school music trip to New Orleans which seems easy right? …STOP insert The Stones!!! They decide this is a good year to embark on another U.S tour…. New Orleans, Chicago, a few other dates with only 1 in ALL of Canada!!!! So, we scramble to get tickets change itineraries for a school trip and a boys’ best 18th birthday is all set…seeing the Stones at the 50th Anniversary of the New Orleans Jazz Fest with his Dad. Then Mick (Jagger) the poor guy I do feel bad BUT he is going to be okay has to have heart valve replacement surgery ☹ Now Team Aziz will see them when they make their stop in Canada but sadly the birthday will just be a birthday but at least it will be with Dad listening to The Stones, staying at the same hotel location in Florence Alabama where the Rolling Stones stayed in 1969 and touring the very studio where the songs Brown Sugar, Wild Horses and You Gotta’ Move were recorded.

So as my son gets older and more independent his crazy ideas and dreams about the Stones and music get wilder (that is my influence). I am so happy he does have these 4 (or 5) guys to look up too and emulate and to maybe just maybe…meet the 4 men that have influenced our lives so heavily. It doesn’t matter he and his father have the best of it all because we rearrange our lives for The Rolling Stones!!!!