Will the real Eleanor Roosevelt please stand up?

I have recently finished reading Eleanor Roosevelt's autobiography. Since I pass Eleanor's home, Valkill Cottage, everyday on my way to work, I thought it was time to get to know her a bit. I found her descriptions of growing up at the turn of the twentieth century fascinating. What a different time than our own! Not only that, but her transformation from a shy, unloved girl to a woman revered by the world for her service in the pursuit of making life better for others is inspiring.
On visiting one of the historic sites in our area I was chatting with a park ranger and when I referred to her book, he said, "She sugar-coated her life." As if she didn't really tell the truth about herself and her life. As if she wasn't being "real" in her book. That got me thinking. Not just about Eleanor, but about life. Did Eleanor present her real life? Do any of us? Do I?
As I thought about Eleanor, I came to the conclusion that she did not sugar-coat her life in her book, but she was very selective in what she talked about. She was a product of her time. In her day, private things were considered off-limits. She shared about all the public aspects of her life very freely, where she traveled, dignitaries she met and what issues they discussed. However, she shared very little of her private pains or joys. In this day of reality TV and tabloid newspapers, perhaps that might come across as "sugar-coating". I think that she was as "real" as she felt appropriate. Her marriage and family were not considered anyone else's business. In our day those aspects of a public person's life are considered everyone's business, but are they really?
Am I not being "real" if I don't share every aspect of my life in public? I think, that like Eleanor Roosevelt, we all have a private life and a public life. There are aspects of my private life and yours that don't need to be public. However, the essence of who we are should be evident now matter where we are.
Much of my life has been spent in the public eye on a small scale. Many people feel like they know me and my husband. Does that mean they should know everything about us? We choose not to share every detail, but we want what people do know about us to create as genuine a picture as possible without exposing every detail. We want to be real, not sugar-coated. I once asked one of my children if they thought we had acheived this. I was relieved by the answer. If my kids think we are faking to the public, what a failure that would be.

"Now we see things imperfectly as in a cloudy mirror, but then we will see everything with perfect clarity. All that I know now is partial and incomplete, but then I will know everything completely, just as God knows me completely. " (I Corinthians 13:12)

After reading Eleanor's book, I only know her partially, imperfectly. Even if we had been the best of friends, I would not know her completely. What you or I know of each other is partial and incomplete. Only God knows each of us completely. The challenge for each of us continues to be: "When I stand up in my public life do people see a genuine, though incomplete, reflection of who I am?"
Let's keep each other honest and real. No sugar-coating allowed. Let the real person stand up!