The colorful life of Celia Diaz-Laurel
The launching of Celia Diaz-Laurel’s coffee table book, The Colors of My Life: Celia Diaz-Laurel — Painter at the Executive House in UP Diliman became a warm gathering of old friends of the author and her eternal partner, the late Vice President Salvador “Doy†Laurel. A large number of guests went out of their way to attend the June 18 event, enduring traffic and the rains, showing their affection and celebrating another milestone in the life of a woman who would have done well as First Lady if not for a series of fateful events.
Along with the UP Singing Ambassadors, Cocoy and the Laurel sisters Suzie, Lynnie and Iwi plus the Laurel grandchildren gave a moving rendition of Ang Aking Dasal — the Filipino version of The Prayer popularized by Italian tenor Andrea Bocelli. The official residence of the UP president was virtually transformed into an art gallery with the portraits, landscapes and other paintings of Mrs. Laurel on display — proof of this lady’s talent as an artist in every sense of the word.
Celia is popularly known as the charming and gracious woman behind Doy Laurel. The book also revealed Celia as an accomplished individual in her own right — theater actress, stage designer, singer, poet, writer and painter — with the book detailing her evolution as a visual artist. Close friends of the Laurels also recall how the exchange of poems published in the Collegian added color to the courtship between Doy and Celia — with the entire campus waiting for the next exchanges.
“This is a sentimental trip to where I began,†Mrs. Laurel said, referring to her alma mater that was also celebrating its 106th Founding Anniversary on the same day. She recalled how she started out in UP Padre Faura as a child straight from the convent — and it was in UP Diliman where she met the man who would become the love of her life, transforming her into a woman, wife and mother. As she said, every step in her life was painted with colors that served as a shining light to show the way.
Photos by Ramon Joseph J. Ruiz
