Farewell, Nana…

Over the weekend, I received an email from my former colleague Grace.

The subject line read: AMHo.

I already had a feeling what it was about. It was going to be sad news. 

I was right.

The email read. "Hi Angelo.  AMHo passed away last night. - Grace"

AMHo is no other than Anita Magsaysay-Ho. When I was still with Magsaysay, that's what everyone called her. Her daughter Doris Ho was DHo. Anita was AMHo. 

She was also called Nana by many. A term of endearment her grandsons, granddaughters used to call her. But then others started refer to her as Nana as well.

I was fortunate enough to have met Nana. It was on two occasions. Both were thanks to being part of the Corporate Communications team of Magsaysay.

The first time I met her was at a dinner hosted by DHo for the President of one of our Japanese shipping partners. 

It was a gathering of big names. The Japanese ambassador to the Philippines then was there. Tessie Sy-Coson was there. Washington Sycip was there, among others.

Of all the people present at the dinner, it was Nana who got me starstruck.

I was a fan of her work. Having an artist for a father, I was lucky enough to be exposed to Nana's work for as long as I can remember.

When all the guests have left, Grace, fellow colleague Sam, and I had the opportunity to have our photo taken with her. I was a bit shy because I was with the company boss, but then I thought it may be the only chance I would have a photo with her. 

And that's how the photo above came to be.

The other instance I met her was during her nth birthday at the Tower Club. I was there to do photo coverage. 

Again, big names of Manila's high society were there, but it was Nana who got my attention. Her and two of her colleagues - Arturo Luz and Mauro Malang. I was fortunate enough to have a photo with both artists as well.

One thing I remember about that night was seeing how AMHo was very much in love with her husband Robert Ho.

A guest singer was singing one of Nana's favorite song. He came over to Nana, and held out the mic to her. She sang a few lines while lovingly looking at Robert who sat beside her. Everyone cheered Nana afterwards.

I may not know her enough, but it wasn't difficult to see that Nana was still very much in love to her husband.

And so I wasn't surprised very much when I read the lines below in Millet Mananquil's wonderful article on Nana:

"… until 2009 when Anita suffered a stroke. For a while, Anita stopped talking. But one day, she called her husband and talked for one minute just to tell him: “Robert, you are the only man I ever loved in my life.” And then she never talked again."

Nana loved Robert in a way that very few are familiar with today. Mr. Ho was really lucky, I think. Anyone who has had that kind of love is lucky.

That was the last time I ever saw Nana, I think. 

I left Magsaysay afterwards. My only source of news on Nana was Grace, whenever we would meet up. 

And now, she's gone.

But Nana will always be remembered through her masterpieces, and her contribution to Philippine art. 

Thank you, Nana, for sharing your gift.

Before I left Magsaysay, I was lucky enough to be given two prints of her. Well, they're not really authentic prints. They're replicas. However, they are prized possessions because Nana signed both replica prints.

Those two pieces now hang in my room back in Manila. I hope my family's looking after those pieces. 

Here is a nice article on Nana.