So take the photographs, and still frames in your mind. Hang it on a shelf in good health and good time. Tattoos of memories and dead skin on trial. For what it's worth it was worth all the while. It's something unpredictable, but in the end is right. I hope you had the time of your life. —"Good Riddance," Green DayLast spring I received an invitation to my 35th high school reunion. It was months away and sounded like fun so Tony and I replied that we would attend. Then I pretty much forgot about it — until a couple of weeks ago.During the last couple of weeks we have attended a few family gatherings. Pictures of these gatherings were posted on Facebook. It was not until then that I looked at photos of myself and thought, "Is that what I really look like?"I am not sure how this had happened. I would get ready, look in the mirror, and leave the house. I thought I looked one way. But when I looked at these pictures ... well, let's just say I did not look as good as I thought I did.Every picture made me cringe. I immediately focused on all my flaws: my smile wasn't bright enough, my eyes were not open enough, my face was too round, and the years of chemo and steroid medications and stress had more than taken their toll.Then I remembered: The high school reunion was just days away. Did I really want to attend? Surely other people would not look the same as they did 35 years ago, would they? Then, pictures from high school friends on Facebook began popping up on my homepage. Pictures of classmates with their children, grandchildren, and families. All of them looked so amazing and so happy — and so much better than I did. I began to wonder if maybe I should not go to the reunion after all. Why do we so often focus on our flaws and fail to see ourselves as our loved ones do? Why do we fail to see ourselves as God does?Isn’t it amazing how we can see the beauty in our friends and our families without the slightest thought to their flaws, but can obsess for hours on our own imperfections? In our warped minds pictures become frozen mirrors that we can stare at as we pick apart our features over and over again. We cringe at the thought of this documentation that our less-than-perfect self ever walked the face of this earth. And then, I remembered...I remembered a few years ago when I was faced with a life-changing situation. I sat in an oncologist’s office and was told I had cancer. By the Grace of God I have lived over a decade since that day. But what if I had not? What if I had missed all the moments that have happened in the last decade? What if I had not been here for the First Communions and Confirmations and graduations? What if I had not lived to be little Gabriel's Godmother? To be a first grade teacher? To celebrate my silver wedding anniversary? To hold my tiny, new-born great-niece? And, yes, even to attend a 35th high school reunion?If God has given us the gift of life, it is our responsibility to live it. Every moment, every day. Against medical odds, I was given these moments to live. Was I willing to miss these moments of life simply because I did not look exactly as I wish I did?I believe it was Norman Hall who said, "The camera does not lie." I suppose this is true. However, it is also true that the camera does not tell the whole picture. It may tell us how we looked, but no camera can tell us who we are. No camera can tell us how we LOVED, how we LAUGHED, or how we were TREASURED by our loved ones. If we stop living moments because we do not look perfect for the pictures, we will miss out on an awful lot. Life does not wait until you “get thin” enough or "perfect" enough to capture it. Life is happening, it is happening right now, and the only moment we are guaranteed is the one we are living. Why do we so often focus on our flaws and fail to see ourselves as our loved ones do? Why do we fail to see ourselves as God does? Why is it so easy to forget the Word of the Lord himself: "For you formed my inward parts; you knitted me together in my mother's womb. I praise you, for I am fearfully and wonderfully made. Wonderful are your works; my soul knows it very well" (Psalm 139: 13-14)?If we could only see ourselves as our loved ones see us ... as our Heavenly Father sees us ... and understand that the only one who is focusing on our flaws is ourselves. Everyone else is too busy loving us. So we went to my high school reunion and we had a great time. I was able to reconnect with some beautiful friends that I have dearly missed over the past three decades. Do I look perfect in all of the pictures? Probably not. But I am pretty sure I will be the only one who thinks so. Everyone else will be too busy remembering the fun we had the moments we treasure — and, by the Grace of God, having the time of our life.Therese Corsaro attends St. Mary Church, Palmdale, and teaches at St. Mary School.{gallery width=100 height=100}gallery/2013/0719/corsaro/{/gallery}
