R.I.P. Nora Ephron (1941-2012)

R.I.P. Nora Ephron (1941 – 2012), my idol.

"Above all, be the heroine of your life, not the victim."

- Nora Ephron, Remarks to Wellesley College Class of 1996

"Oh, how I regret not having worn a bikini for the entire year I was 26. If anyone young is reading this, go, right this minute, put on a bikini, and don't take it off until you're 34."
-- Nora Ephron, "I Feel Bad About My Neck: And Other Thoughts on Being a Woman"

When I was a kid, in the early 90’s, there was this old dilapidated theater called, “Paz,” a few meters away from our residence in Laoag City.  My dad pulled my arm and said, “Come with me and we’ll see a movie,” as he led me to this so-called “Paz Theater.”  I asked him, “Ano ba panonoorin natin?” to which he replied, “We will be seeing SLEEPLESS IN SEATTLE – it was shown in Broadway before but it is now made into a movie."

That was my first experience of Nora Ephron’s work, who passed away after her battle with leukemia yesterday. (May 19, 1941 – June 26, 2012)  

Since then I have been a fan and admirer of her work.  The last that I have experienced was, “Love , Loss and What I Wore,” – an intimate collection of stories about women’s lives, last January 22, 2012.  It was in RCBC, Makati - a reading session starring Menchu Lauchenco-Yulo and Jay Valencia-Glorioso.  It was my first time to see my mother enjoy performing arts with huge laughters and tears that came out of her. We were on first row. 

Nora through her art brought me to another world, made me escape my reality but experience reality in other people’s lives through the characters she created in her movies and books.   

She is also one of the more important reasons why I love MEG RYAN (When Harry Met Sally, Sleepless in Seattle, You’ve Got Mail, and Hanging Up – all movies she wrote which I saw with Meg in it, apart from Julie and Julia starring Meryl Streep).

To Nora Ephron, another big loss in the writing and movie industry. My idol, you will be missed.