Ciara Graces First ESSENCE Cover, Talks Motherhood and Engagement to Russell Wilson

Ciara is a vision of beauty on the May cover of ESSENCE.

Inside, the Grammy-winning singer reveals what it’s like be a woman in love and living her bliss. This is the life the 30-year-old has always imagined since she was a teenager. She remembers telling her friends at Clayton High School in College Park, Georgia how she would grow up to become a world-famous singer. “I made a goal sheet,” Ciara tells writer Jeannine Amber. On that list was also the dream of selling “3 to 4 million” records and “have longevity.” Those dreams came true by the time she was 21. 

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Then came the dream of motherhood and a family. “I’d always wanted to have my own family,” she said. “And my pregnancy was planned when I was at a point in my life when I was finally ready to take on the responsibility.” Her son Future, born May 19, 2014, fulfilled the dream of being a mother.

Her very public breakup with her fiancé and Future’s father, rapper Future, could have made Ciara give up on the dream of a family. “That wasn’t necessarily part of my vision,” she recalls. “But the moment I realized I was going to be a single mother, I had to reflect and reorganize my thoughts. I decided to trust that God had a plan for me, and move forward one day at a time.”

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And wow did the plan come together gracefully. Less than a year after her breakup, Ciara went public with her relationship with Seattle Seahawks quarterback, Russell Wilson, who recently asked for her hand in marriage during a romantic trip to the Seychelles.

“I remember telling my friend the kind of guy I wanted: a God-fearing man with a very fun spirit who loves kids and would really, truly care for me. I was very specific because I do believe you can have it all.”

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We hear you, Ciara.

Pick up the May issue of ESSENCE—on newsstands on April 15—for more on Ciara, Russell, Future, and that swoon-worthy engagement ring.