Just weeks after giving birth to her first child Titan Jewell Weatherspoon and getting married to her manager Tim Witherspoon last year the singer suddenly lost her mother Doris Garrison in December.

Now in one of her first interviews since the tragic ordeal, Kelly is opening up on her loss and regaining happiness in the new issue of ‘Essence‘.

She tells ESSENCE magazine in her April 2015 cover story, “My road to happiness hasn’t been an easy one. It hasn’t been peachy all the time, but I am so, so happy…”

She says her career is very important to her but family is number one in her life at this time”My priority is my husband first,” she says, laughing. “That’s how the baby got there.”

You can check out Kelly’s full spread when her issue hits newsstands on March 20.