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Aparador
ni Lola
Past
Lives, Precious Objects
Edited by Emie G. Velarde
There’s
always a need for something borrowed and something blue, something
old and something new in every wedding. And in getting harried
to getting married, there is one place where three of these
can be found, some place brides almost always forget to look
into: Ang Aparador ni Lola. Come look at what famous
writers |
like Jose Lacaba and Jose Javier Reyes have found in their grandmothers’
aparador. From
the Publishers
Erlinda Enriquez Panlilio
National Book Awardee 2002 and 2000
Who
would ever think that a quotidian object could be the repository
of so many memories, often tender, and at times tinged wit
pain? Reading the stories the authors tell of their grandmothers’
aparador is akin to taking a nostalgic promenade through time,
to an era sometimes beyond our ken. It reminds us to take
stock of our own relationship with the unappreciated elders
in our family. Who knows, we may even see ourselves in the
mirror of our lola’s aparador!
Ambeth
R. Ocampo
Chairman, National Historical Institute
As
a historian I have gleaned the life and times of heroes by
looking into their aparador. I often wish my lola had a 19th
Century aparador of her own, if only to make antique collectors
salivate. Instead she had a row of cabinets big enough to
hide in. The contents were ordinary – oversized underwear
and tacky plastic containers of Holy water from Lourdes, for
instance. But seen through the prism of memory and nostalgia,
these things form an integral part of my personal history.
I would have wanted to write an essay too, for this wonderful
book. |