…that a 14 year old actor would answer a newspaper ad about forming a band,
…that he would know a 19 year old singer / actor auditioning under the name Tony Donetti,
…that a 12 year old would turn down a contract with the Mickey Mouse Club to join a group that didn’t even exist,
…that a 22 year old playing Aladdin and a Ninja Turtle at Disney World would hear about the group and join,
…that he would have an 18 year old cousin, still in high school, with the voice of an angel who would ultimately complete the group?
…that the group would name themselves the Backstreet Boys after a flea market in Orlando, FL where they rehearsed tirelessly,
…that the Backstreet Boys would travel around to high schools performing before heading overseas and gaining international fame,
…that these five young men would put in the hard work and endless sacrifices to become a household name in their own country,
…that they’d still be around 25 years, selling out a Vegas residency, releasing their 10th studio album, and releasing a new single?
…that we’d still know every word to every song,
…that we’d still have our memorabilia tucked away,
…that we’d be sharing their music with our children,
…that we’d get the same feeling we got the first time we saw them to this day?
…that they would be the reason so many of us are friends turned family,
…that they would be the reason we have passports and have traveled to places we would have never dreamed going to,
…that they would inspire us without even knowing it,
…that we’d be celebrating birthdays, milestones, and triumphs with them,
…that we would travel the earth and the seas to get a high off of their music,
…that Kevin, Howie, Brian, AJ and Nick would mean so much to us?
…that we’d see pieces of ourselves in their own struggles,
…that they’d share those pieces of themselves with us – the highs and lows, the ups and downs,
…that we’d learn so much from five men who enticed us with their music and kept us with their integrity, their hard work, their kindness, their humility, their honesty and their willingness to keep growing and be better?
…that we’ll always want it that way?
…that we’ll never say OH MY GOD without thinking “we’re back again”?
…that we’ll ever say “gotta go” normally?
…that we’ll ever stop rolling our windows down and the music up anytime the Backstreet Boys come on?
…that they’ll ever truly know how much they’ve meant to us?
Well, they’re like two in a million… like once in a lifetime.