Meet Angela Gray

We recently connected with Angela Gray and have shared our conversation below.

Hi Angela , really appreciate you opening up about a very personal topic with the hopes that it can help someone out there who might be going through it. What can you share with us about your journey with postpartum depression and how you overcame PPD? For readers, please note this is not medical advice, we are not doctors, you should always consult professionals for advice and that this is merely one person sharing their story and experience.

Our 9 year-old daughter, Amoriah, was born two months early due to Pre-eclampsia. She was born on March 23, 2015. at 7:00am. She was only 2 lbs when she was delivered by an emergency caesarean surgery. She was in the NICU for almost a month. She received quality care at St. Louis Children’s Hospital NICU. We thank all the Doctors and Nurses who took care of Amoriah and I. We want to especially thank the Director of the NICU, Latoya Daughrity. She is my friend, Marissa’s best friend. She definitely looked after Amoriah in a special way.

My husband and I were so nervous. We wanted Amoriah to be healthy. I blamed myself for Amoriah’s premature birth. I was an older Mom with high blood pressure. I thought if I was younger without high blood pressure she would have had a healthy birth. This was definitely one of the darkest moments of my life. I never imagined not having Amoriah come home with us.

I was in the hospital for a week due to delivering by C-section. When I returned home without my baby, I was very depressed. I couldn’t sleep or eat. When I walked into her nursey at home, I broke down and fell to my knees. My husband lifted me up and put me in the bed. I couldn’t wait until the next day so that I could go to the NICU. I could barely walk. My father and brother-in-law, took me to the hospital to see Amoriah. They also visited with her. My husband was supposed to go back to work but he wasn’t ready mentally. He later joined me at the hospital. We visited Amoriah everyday. We lived in the living quarters at the hospital. A couple of times, we slept on the floor in the family waiting room. Our life was definitely on hold until Amoriah came home with us.

When Amoriah came home, it was the best day of our lives. I was so nervous of taking care of her by myself that I asked my Aunt Ren to come and help me. She didn’t hesitate and was here in a few days from Georgia. My husband was going back to work and I was nervous being alone with a preemie. I wouldn’t have the nurses to help me just in case she stop breathing. She didn’t have all the wires hooked up to her like in the hospital so I wouldn’t know if something was wrong.. Everything worked out fine. I guess my motherly instincts clicked in. I did not have time to be depressed. I had to pump my breast every two hours and feed her. I was so tired but I felt good being able to provide healthy milk for my baby.

I overcame Postpartum depression by praying to God. I prayed for Amoriah’s complete healing. Also, family and friends prayed for her. I also overcame PPD by visiting Amoriah day and night and holding her in my arms. Breast feeding also helped me to feel connected to her. I had a hard time learning how to breastfeed. The nurses and my cousin, Jay, helped me to breast feed. My cousin Jay was a breastfeeding coach in Chicago. Since she was early, my milk ducts were not all the way developed so it took a long time for the milk to come out. When it finally did, I was so excited! It was just a little bit but to me it was a lot. My friend and Amoriah’s God Mother, Kelsia, also helped me overcome PPD by praying with me and visiting Amoriah. My friends, Marissa, Kelsia, Kristie, Ida, and Toya set up a cute nursery in our bedroom. We didn’t have time to get the nursery together so it helped a lot. My Sister -Cousins- Fayshelle and Leslie also prayed for Amoriah. My mentors Dr. Brown, Ms. Pitts, Ms. Whitner, and Ben also called and gave me encouraging and inspirational words during this difficult time. It is so important to have positive people in your life in a time of need. I am truly blessed for all the love and support.

Thanks for sharing that. So, before we get any further into our conversation, can you tell our readers a bit about yourself and what you’re working on?

I am a School Social Worker for a small school district in Illinois. I have been a School Social Worker for twenty- one years. I was a School Social Worker at a high school in Illinois for nineteen-years. I love working with children and teens.

I am also an Author-I wrote “Girl, Check that Attitude! ” and “Help! I Have an Attitude Problem”. I love working with teen girls, especially girls with anger and attitude problems. I wanted to write a book to help educators who were struggling with their relationships with this population. I also wanted to write a book for teen girls who needed anger management. Both books are currently sold on Amazon.

I helped my daughter, Amoriah, write a book about loving her hair. “Amoriah’s Magic Afro Puffs”. One day my then six year-old daughter came home from school and asked why her hair wasn’t straight like her friends at school. She said she didn’t like her curls. I was devasted. My husband and I talked to her about how beautiful her hair is and how beautiful she is. We also ordered several books on Amazon to help her.

A few months later I encouraged Amoriah to enter the Young Authors contest at school and write about her hair. She talked about what she liked about her afro puffs. Her story was selected. She and the other selected authors were honored at a conference. We then decided to illustrate her book. We hired an illustrator and editor on Fiverr. Her book is currently sold on Amazon. We also created a website, www.amoriahlove.com, to sell T shirts, a coloring book, and her book. I have become Amoriah’s Momager. She has a You tube page, Amoriah’s Adventures, where she plays with her barbies, talk about her vacations, and her book. She also has a song and video, “Amoriah”. She and I cowrote the song. The song and video is at the beginning of her You tube videos. She has been on the local news several times-Fox 2 news, Melanie Johnson/KMOV, and nationally Investigate TV. Her book is sold on Amazon.

We are in the process of working on a video for her next song, “Enough”. My husband used his rap skills to help write this song. I wrote the chorus and Amoriah wrote some of the words throughout the song. She expresses how she has had enough of strangers touching her hair without her permission. She just recorded the song professionally last week (mid July). We are in the process of getting her songs streamed on several outlets such as Spotify, You tube music, Apple music. We are in the process of reaching out to local news stations for Amoriah to perform her song on national Afro Puff day on September 6th.

Amoriah did a summer tour two years ago. We visited several daycare and schools in the areas. She was well received. She is available for Author visits in the future. She did her first presentation at a school in St. Louis. The students loved Amoriah’s story. They treated her like a celebrity.

I am also a small business owner of Luv 2 Express Tees and more. I created this business from my love for inspirational T shirts. I also developed it during covid. My friend, Marissa, was at a craft store when I called her. She said she was looked for a cricut. I told her I always wanted to make t shirts. She encouraged me to do it too.

Looking back, what do you think were the three qualities, skills, or areas of knowledge that were most impactful in your journey? What advice do you have for folks who are early in their journey in terms of how they can best develop or improve on these?

The three qualities that were most impactful in my journey were: perseverance, gratitude, and determination. I was always determined to complete a task. Regardless how tough the job was, I was determined not to give up. Throughout my career, I always remained humbled and expressed gratitude to others for helping me in any way. When one has a spirit of gratitude, one continues to have good things happen to them. I believe in being optimistic and positive.

The advice that I also give to others starting early in their careers is to find a good mentor or mentors. Please find someone who will tell you the truth no matter how upset or hurt you are. I have been blessed with several Mentors throughout my career. They are: Dr. Brown, Ms. Pitts, Ms. Whitner, and Ben Golley. They all “keep it real” with me. They are very special to me. I learned so much from them over the years.

I also encourage others to stay positive and optimistic. It is very easy to get down about things when things don’t work out in your favor. It is very easy to join others who are negative and talk negatively about others. I recommend finding a strong support system who are positive and encouraging. I am blessed to have my Sister-Friends-Kelsia, Marissa, and Kristie. I also call on my Sister-Cousin-Fayshelle. Anytime I need a word of encouragement, I call on them.

Last but not least I encourage others to have a relationship with someone higher than them. I call on Jesus in a time of need. I read the bible and meditate on His word all the time. I talk to Him all the time. He gives me the peace I need to get through the day.

How would you spend the next decade if you somehow knew that it was your last?

I am currently believing I am healed from Breast Cancer. On October 5, 2024, I was diagnosed with an aggressive form of Breast Cancer. I was devasted. I kept thinking I need to be here for my baby girl and for my husband. My husband and I met with the Oncologist Dr. Glover-Collins on that day. I loved how she delivered the message to me. She was a matter of fact and straight to the point.

At the beginning, everything was very overwhelming. I had several Dr. appointments and tests. I had to miss a lot of work. I was so angry about this recent diagnosis. I asked God “why me”. I later learned from my Aunt and breast cancer survivor, Aunt Lucy, that my Dad’s mother died from Breast Cancer in her 40s a long time ago. I had no idea. I never got a chance to meet her. She passed away before I was born. This explained everything. I appreciated my Sister-Cousin and Breast Cancer survivor-Fayshelle, for giving me words of inspiration at the beginning. I wanted to give up at first but she encouraged me to keep going.

I started my treatment at the end of October because I begged the medial oncologist, Dr. Faiak, to wait until I came back from being awarded Illinois School Social Worker of the Year. I was supposed to start the week prior but Dr. Faiak said waiting one week was ok. I was deeply honored for being awarded this prestigious award. I waited my whole career for this honor and cancer was not going to get in my way of me being there physically to receive the award.

I completed 16 rounds of chemo. I completed 12 rounds of chemo with no side effects or problems. I was a little tired but I went to work everyday. I only missed work unless I had a Dr’s appointment or treatment. I started scheduling my Dr. appointments after work. This helped my mental wellbeing a lot. I don’t like missing work. This was only my second year in this district so I didn’t want to look bad. When I started the next 4 doses nicknamed, “The red devil” it, the first dose affected me greatly. It knocked me off my feet. I was in the hospital for a week. I had the following symptoms all at once: dehydration, pneumonia, flu, couldn’t walk, and no voice. I thank God for my Sister-Friends-Kelsia, Kristie, and Marissa for taking care of me and visiting me in the hospital. My husband Chris took good care of our daughter in the evenings. My brother-in-law, Isaiah and his girlfriend Empress, kept our daughter while I was in the hospital. My husband and I were so grateful for them keeping her. In a few weeks, God healed me from the sickness. I was back at work and with my family. Amoriah is very active in dance and cheer. It felt good to transport her to all her activities again.

On May 10, 2024, my family and friends, joined me in ringing the bell for completing chemo. It was the best Mother’s day present ever. My Doctors put me on a break before I had a mastectomy on June 20th. So many family and friends checked on me while I was in the hospital. My Sister-Friends-Kelsia, Marissa, and Kristie all took off work and joined my husband at surgery. My Sister cousin-Fayshelle, checked on me and sent flowers. I felt so much love from family and friends. My friends even gave me a Goodbye party to my Tata’s. We had so much fun. My co-workers collected money and made a get well basket for me. I felt so much love. I have a hard time asking others for help so all the support was so greatly appreciative.

When I saw my much smaller breast all bruised, I had a moment to myself. At first I didn’t want to look at them because I thought I would get angry again. However, when I saw them, I wasn’t mad. They actually look better than I imagined. I meet with a Plastic Surgeon weekly to get fills with saline to fill my breast out.

I recently met with my oncologist and was told I still had residual cancer. I was so mad and upset. I thought I prayed and believed and I still have cancer. My faith started diminishing. I started giving up hope. At this present time, I am not sure if I will need radiation and immunotherapy. I cried so hard to my husband and friend, Kelsia, who came to the appointment with me. I was depressed for a few days but I knew I had to get out of that dark place and fight. I began to spend more time with God, I prayed more, I read all the inspirational readings my friend Tammy and Kelsia sent. At this moment, I believe by faith that I am cancer free! I am going to be here to raise my daughter and see who she will become. I am in the process of changing my eating habits and researching cancer fighting foods. I want to live and as my mentor, Dr. Brown often reminds me, “I’m in it to win it!”.

Contact Info:

• Website: www.amoriah love. com
• Instagram: Amoriah Love
• Facebook: Amoriah Love, Luv 2 Express Tees and more
• Linkedin: na
• Twitter: na
• Youtube: Amoriah’s Adventures
• Yelp: na
• Soundcloud: na
• Other: www.amazon.com/Amoriah’s Magic Afro Puffswww.amazon/Girl Check that Attitude

  www.amazon/Help. I Have an Attitude Problem!

Image Credits

Angela Gray