Visiting memoirs of the past

History has never been my favorite subject. Although the events of yesterday enticed me by giving me a clearer picture of what we are today, memorizing dates and ages were never my thing. To me, it was irrelevant to memorize the exact birthdate of a hero when it was his deed that made him known to be such.

On the accounts of our heroes, Dr. Jose Rizal was my favorite. Aside from the fact that he was chosen as the National Hero and regarded as perhaps the greatest of all time, his brilliance exudes that of any Filipino. I look up to him not only for the many languages that he knew of but also for the very fact that he understood the times of the nation in his era.

There are many things that I could say about this man but needless to say, he was a role model. Yet no matter how much history books tell us about him, this does not suffice our quest in knowing him beyond his great life works.

I was able to pay a quick visit to the University of Southern Philippines Foundation's Rizal Museum last week. According to curator Dr. Zamora, their university is one of the four corners in our country where one could study about the life of our national hero. It was not my first time inside the familiar room but the ego inside me was eager to learn more.

The museum's collection was not that much but it was rich in culture. It explained to us a part of Rizal when he was in Europe. Clothes used during this very instrumental trip were on display. Zamora even mentioned that some of his pairs of socks used to be in their possession. These socks were small with cloth patches so the man could save on buying a new pair. His thriftiness was truly Filipino.

Apart from his clothes were his original sketchbooks with portraits of the woman who captured her heart before his death - Josephine Bracken. I was astonished that the woman was not "sexy" as defined in our time today. Apparently, love handles entranced men in those days; a complete opposite of what society defines "sexy" now.

In the same glass box where the sketchbook was situated was also Bracken's love letter to our hero signed with her name accompanied with De Rizal at the end, as if they were both married. I have learned that Bracken and Rizal were not married for no legal document proved this fact but the artifact proved otherwise so I asked Zamora why.

He answered simply. Just like today, cohabitation was not accepted in society. When a couple is rumored to be living together, they are presumed to be married. Zamora said Bracken wanted to protect her reputation.

With the facts stated, I realized that society could define a person's life. It can dictate what and what not to do. Most of the time today, the norm of yesterday is still accepted today, just taken from a whole different perspective.

The old adage, "History repeats itself" is true to me. Our history books tell us so much of who we were as a nation but we never learn. Amazingly, we manage to repeat the same mistakes all over again as if we never learned our life lesson.

I guess museums exist to remind the not-so-damaged generation to get a grip on themselves instead of repeating the same mistakes like the former generation did. For Dr. Zamora, he was glad that a class like ours visited their humble museum. He said, "This is what we lack (in our education system)."

Historian Renato Constantino said we will never understand who we are unless we look at our history but I hope we will do more than just looking. It takes a worthwhile visit to understand that we are no slaves in our nation of tyrants.