January 2025 Featured Interview
The Beauty of Imperfection:
Grace Gonzalez Embraces Her Scars
Grace Gonzalez
Photo Credit: Susie Lang
Photo Credit: Susie Lang
What is Scoliosis?
The National Institute of Arthritis and Musculoskeletal Skin Diseases reports, "Scoliosis is a sideways curve of the spine. Everyone has normal curves in the spine, and when looked at from behind, the spine appears straight. However, children and teens with scoliosis have an abnormal S-shaped or C-shaped curve of the spine. The curve can happen on either side of the spine and in different places in the spine. In most people, the cause of scoliosis is unknown."
Researchers continue to study possible causes for idiopathic scoliosis and surmise that a combination of several factors may lead to the disorder. These include: genes, hormones, and changes in cell structure.
According to the Mayo Clinic, "Most cases of scoliosis are mild, but some curves worsen as children grow. Severe scoliosis can be disabling. An especially serious spinal curve can reduce the amount of space within the chest, making it difficult for the lungs to function properly."
The National Institute of Arthritis and Musculoskeletal Skin Diseases reports, "Scoliosis is a sideways curve of the spine. Everyone has normal curves in the spine, and when looked at from behind, the spine appears straight. However, children and teens with scoliosis have an abnormal S-shaped or C-shaped curve of the spine. The curve can happen on either side of the spine and in different places in the spine. In most people, the cause of scoliosis is unknown."
Researchers continue to study possible causes for idiopathic scoliosis and surmise that a combination of several factors may lead to the disorder. These include: genes, hormones, and changes in cell structure.
According to the Mayo Clinic, "Most cases of scoliosis are mild, but some curves worsen as children grow. Severe scoliosis can be disabling. An especially serious spinal curve can reduce the amount of space within the chest, making it difficult for the lungs to function properly."
Carol Lippert Gray, associate editor, asked Grace about her lifelong journey navigating the challenges of living with scoliosis and how she has learned to embrace her scars.
Grace Gonzalez was born with scoliosis. The condition defined and constrained her for most of her life. Her aunt first noticed the curve in her spine when Grace entered puberty. “The curve happened, like, overnight,” she says. Her parents immediately took her to see an orthopedist, and she subsequently endured three surgeries: the first when she was 10 or 11, and the last in 2013.
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"I lived many years filled with insecurity, lack of self-confidence, and feeling lost within myself. Having been born with scoliosis, and enduring three surgeries as a result, didn’t make it easier. After my divorce, I felt the need to reinvent myself and start from the bottom. I needed to find my purpose, feel worthy, and to feel free from those negative words some had said to me about the shape of my body, the way I walk, and the long scar on my back which I always tried to hide." ~ Grace Gonzales ("Stepping Out of My Comfort Zone," June 2024) |
The procedures scarred her back and her psyche. Until recently, this mother and grandmother from Bronx, New York, was reluctant to expose that part of herself to public view. “It hasn’t been easy. I was insecure. I was not feeling beautiful,” she says. She got married and had a daughter, but by 2022 she was going through a divorce, and her daughter had been diagnosed with breast cancer. If there was a bottom, she thinks she hit it. And then she realized something had to change: her perception of herself.
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“I didn’t expect anything to happen after so many years,” she says. “But I had to get out of my funk. I felt the need to reinvent myself. I couldn’t let negative words badger me. I started doing things. I went to Sedona, Arizona, for a meditation retreat, and that’s where I had a breakthrough. I did yoga on the beach. I went to Aruba last year. I prayed for a way to feel validated,” she says.
And then she stumbled upon the website of Celebrate the Gray, a California-based agency for gray-haired models, influencers, brand ambassadors, and content creators that also does consulting for and about women aged 50 and over. (See interview with the founder of Celebrate the Gray, Stephanie O’Dell, Sanctuary, March 2022). Gonzalez says, “My breath was taken away. There were so many beautiful women on the site.” She got in touch and agreed to a professional photoshoot on a New York City rooftop, where she also decided to let her scar take center stage. “I am grateful to my agent, Stephanie O’Dell from Celebrate the Gray, who embraced and executed my idea and brought it to life. The opportunities afforded to me helped me transform the way I see myself for who I am and discovering who I was meant to be.” The photoshoot and her newfound identity as a model inspired her. “I decided to step out of my comfort zone. Within my first two months of signing up, I did my first commercial, as a background actor. Since then, I’ve done several background roles for commercials, TV shows, model print photoshoots, and a short film where I played a grandmother, including a speaking role. |
Grace Gonzalez
Photo Credit: Susie Lang |
L to R: Susie Lang, Jacqui Getz, Stephanie O'Dell, Grace Gonzalez,
Jordan Benaderet Photo Credit: Susie Lang |
“It’s weird, in a way. I still don’t see myself like that. This is something I never knew I’d be doing. I’m grateful. Now I want to be used as a vessel to tell women they’re all beautiful, no matter what. Every scar has a history and a story. Embrace it and love it.”
"I would have never imagined that I would be doing a photoshoot on a rooftop in New York City, with my talented Agent, Stephanie O’Dell, the superb photographer Susie Lang and fantastic fashion stylist Jacqui Getz." ~ Grace Gonzales (from "Stepping Out of My Comfort Zone," June 2024) To that end, she’s creating motivational videos for Instagram. She’s also considering creating content about divorcing in one’s 50s. “I want to be able to empower other women to do what I did: step out of your comfort zone and try new things. “Since my photoshoot, I’ve had several women and even men reach out, telling me how I’ve inspired them and how brave I am to share something so personal. If at 55, I can begin a new chapter in my life, anyone can.” |
Her primary job (which she loves) is as a data analyst for a New York City-based federal agency, but she’s been scheduling modeling gigs around it. With all that going on, where does she find sanctuary? “I love to take walks in the park. When I’m walking, I’m thinking. I also have a meditation area at home where I decompress. I am blessed and grateful for my new and profound journey.”
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"I hope [my story] inspires other women who may be feeling insecure and are afraid of stepping out of their comfort zone to begin their journey towards loving and embracing themselves and to become who they were meant to be. Remember, you are beautiful just as you are. If at 55, I can begin a new chapter in my life, you can too!" ~ Grace Gonzales (from "Stepping Out of My Comfort Zone," June 2024) |
Follow Grace on:
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Additional Resources:
"Scoliosis in Children and Teens" (NIH)
“Scoliosis” (Mayo Clinic)
"Scoliosis and Self-Esteem: More Than a Physical Issue" (Cleveland Orthopedic & Spine Institute)
"Scoliosis in Children and Teens" (NIH)
“Scoliosis” (Mayo Clinic)
"Scoliosis and Self-Esteem: More Than a Physical Issue" (Cleveland Orthopedic & Spine Institute)
