This song was one of the biggest hits of 1969. In the U.S., it topped the Billboard Hot 100 for six weeks in April and May, and also reached number one on the Billboard Adult Contemporary chart. It climbed the sales charts in Canada and elsewhere, and Billboard ranked it the No. 2 record overall for the year.
I was just five months old when it was playing worldwide on the radio. I don’t remember the first time I heard it, but I’ve always associated it with 1969 –my birth year. It’s one of my favorite songs on my playlist and the very first one I wanted to share here.
I was born in Trinidad, during the middle of the country’s biggest annual celebration: Carnival. Perhaps I came into the world listening to the music echoing through the streets around the hospital.
My parents were born in different provinces in China and immigrated separately to Trinidad in their pre-teen years. With only a few years of schooling and limited English, they were thrust into adulthood early, entering an arranged marriage at the ages of 16 and 17. With little help and few resources, they set out to build a life for themselves.
I respect my parents deeply for embodying the true meaning of parenthood –doing everything in their power to give my siblings and me a life they never had.
Mom and Dad, I love you both with all my heart. Thank you.
