When My Mom and I Decided Shania Twain's 'From This Moment On' Would Be My Future Wedding Song

Growing up in Toronto, Ontario during the late '90s/early 2000s, there were a handful of recording artists that fellow Canadians worshiped at the altar of. There was Queen Céline Dion of course, Sarah McLachlan, Jann Arden, The Tragically Hip and Bryan Adams (I swear this man can feed the next twenty generations of Adams' with the royalties he's collected from his head banger "Everything I Do") just to name a few.

Of the above named, Shania Twain was one of those artists whose music I distinctly remember being played throughout my childhood.

Twain was raised in Timmins, Ontario which is about an 8 hour drive away from downtown Toronto. She experienced an incredibly difficult childhood fraught with poverty, depression and domestic abuse. She ultimately managed to persevere through her all hardships becoming one of the best-selling artists of all-time.

Growing Up Listening To The Twain

My parents immigrated from Kabul, Afghanistan to Toronto in the 1980s and they did everything in their power to give us what they deemed as a safe Canadian childhood. I vividly remember a bulky sound system they must have bought from a Goodwill being a staple in the living room of our 2 bedroom apartment.

When my dad would be working during the day, mom would blast some intoxicating tunes on that thing that ranged from iconic Afghan artists they brought from back home to ABBA. My older brother and I would also constantly rassle over which CD we'd listen to. As a completely objective observer in this retelling I'm... Fairly certain I was victorious in these disagreements.

Shania's (we're now on a first-name basis. by the way) third studio album, Come On Over was released in 1997, when I was three years old. The album features some of her most famous tunes including "You're Still The One", "That Don't Impress Me Much", "Man! I Feel Like a Woman" and "From This Moment On."

Now being a dumb kid, I didn't know what my mom would be singing while making dinner or her hourly cleaning of the furniture sessions. Looking back, I can probably attest to my brother and I's knowledge of technological devices from having to fiddle around with that damn stereo virtually every day.

My mom would occasionally scream out politely tell us "bachem! ('Child' in Farsi). This CD doesn't work!"

The radio was also a fantastic resource we utilized because when that song you adored played, you best believe we stopped everything just to jam out to it. Canadian artists are constantly played on the radio here so we always adored belting out some of our best Shania during car rides.

When The Decision Was Made

As you can probably now recognize, Shania Twain was a staple in my life growing up and remains so well into my adulthood.

During a specific car ride with my mom one day when I was older, the iconic "From This Moment On" started playing on the radio. As the song finished and our karaoke session was coming to an end, my mom randomly blurted out "hey... Whenever you get married, play this song during the first dance."

Now let me give you some insight into Afghans: they love them a wedding. Besides the obvious components of a wedding one must stress over - the dress, cake, catering etc. - Ensuring that the proper musical decisions are being made is imperative. These decisions have historically been to play Afghan or Iranian artists exclusively as these were the artists my parents generation would listen to. There was possibly an Elvis Presley song played here and there because for whatever reason, Elvis was huge in Afghanistan.

As us first generationers marry off, more and more are choosing to incorporate both Middle Eastern and Western tunes into their ceremonies. I personally have never been a fan of huge weddings as I'm much more of a proponent of a small party for close loved ones. I never truly thought about any details really for my future wedding except whether Zack Morris broke up with Kelly Kapowski and became available (perish the thought!).

The suggestion of "From This Moment On" was absolutely genius and I replied with "you know what? That's a great idea, mom!"

The song is easily one of the most clichéd wedding songs on the face of the Earth, however it holds a special place in my heart regardless of how overused it may be. As Dr. Finn of The Orville beautifully put it:

"Clichés become clichéd precisely because they're valid enough to bare endless repetition."

It was because of artists like Shania Twain that newcomers like my mom slowly began to become accustomed to English. Besides the basic English she utilized to experience day-to-day life in Toronto, she would listen to these artists and her brain would remember the English lyrics that went along with its melody. Learning the lyrics eventually led to them understanding the intricacies of the language which finally resulted in them speaking as fluently as they could. That's unbelievably aspiring to me.

There are even moments where we're listening to some of our favorite tracks and we'll flip the English lyrics to Farsi just so our parents can have a good time.

Witnessing The Great One Singing The Song Live

Shania brought her Now Tour to the Scotiabank Arena in the summer of 2018. I surprised my mom with tickets a few months before the big day and she could not contain her excitement. It just so happened that I would also be starting my new full-time job the week after the concert so really a lot was going on.

As the concert progressed and we were having the time of our lives, the moment arrived. I had my phone ready, my brain conjured up all the lyrics to the surface and the lovingly delightful voice I've heard for more than twenty years began doing what it was meant to do. I experienced this greatness all while sitting alongside the woman who introduced me to this artist that's meant so much to me.

Reader, let me assure you that we were both in a glass case of emotion.

As I was witnessing Shania belt out this tune I knew all too well I realized that this song simply wasn't just a song I kinda liked. Without sounding too ridiculous, "From This Moment On" has essentially become a fundamental component for my relationship with my mom. Would we still love each other if Shania Twain never existed? I mean... I'm sure we would.. right? :)

But in all sincerity this particular song stuck by us for the entirety of my growing up and, God willing, will be the first thing we hear when I begin the next chapter of my life by starting my own family.

I simply cannot listen to "From This Moment On" now without thinking of jamming out with my mom on our drives. I can further assure you with no doubt in this minuscule brain of mine that when the day comes where I find my Zack Morris and this song starts playing as we're surrounded by our loved ones with my mom adoringly watching us, I will start bawling uncontrollably that we simply won't get past the first verse.

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Submitted for the Behind The Beat Challenge.