Céline Dion prepares for first Christmas without her husband
After suffering the devastating loss of her husband earlier this year, Céline Dion is preparing to face her first Christmas without her beloved René Angélil.
In an exclusive interview with Page Six, the legendary singer said that this “bittersweet” holiday season will serve as a time to be at peace with her children and herself — and not to wallow in the pain of their loss.
“I cannot just live on like, ‘I lost my husband, my children have no father,'” she told us. “I have to stand tall and strong because this is my way of living: Stand tall, be positive, pick your battles, do the best you can and to live for today, not for tomorrow, for today, and know nothing is perfect, not everything you want will happen.”
Celine Dion met music manager René Angélil when she was just 12 years old, and he went on to launch her into stardom. After working together for years, their relationship turned romantic in 1987 and they wed in a lavish ceremony in Montreal in 1994.
This year’s Christmas celebration will be a poignant tribute to Angélil, who Dion feels will be present as she and their children, 15-year-old René-Charles and 6-year-old twins Nelson and Eddy, go skiing in Montana, as was tradition until Angélil felt too ill to travel last year.
“He put some something magic into that snow, into those mountains, and every time we go down, I go down with him,” she said of Big Sky. “My children go down thinking about him. Every time I take the lift to go up, I feel closer to him.”
They will spend Christmas on the slopes, drinking hot chocolate and sitting together by the fire. Friends plan to join the group, but Dion says she doesn’t want too many other people around.
René Angélil died in January, just two days before his 74th birthday, after a long battle with throat cancer. As the anniversary of his passing approaches, the 48-year-old mother of three wants time to slow down.
“I can’t believe it’s going to be a year that my husband passed,” she said. “I don’t know when Santa Claus is coming, but if I had a wish to make this year, can you just tell him to take his time? I’m not ready! It’s kind of a bittersweet moment and at the same time we need to really make the holidays really happy.”
She continued, “I feel thankful that he doesn’t suffer and he doesn’t have to worry because we got him. He got us and the spirit of the holidays will get us together again … We’re going to ski again all together and he will be there with us.”
Dion, who resumes her Las Vegas residency on Jan. 17, said the twins will be skiing for the first time this year and that she has found an area that’s a bit more private to reduce the risk of any accidents on the slopes.
She told us, “For me the trip is not to party. It’s to try and mediate, find balance and be at peace with myself and my children and to eat, to play games, whether it’s Monopoly or the telephone game.”
During the interview, she recalled some of her favorite holiday memories growing up, including big family get-togethers, which is not surprising considering she’s one of 13 siblings. She lost one of her brothers in 2016, also to cancer.
She explained that when she was a child, the holidays in her native Canada were all about music and food.
“My mom was cooking and she’s an amazing cook,” said French Canadian Singer Celine Dion. “The smell for me is very strong in my memories … That’s magic for me.”
With two tragic losses in one year, the holidays will be hard for Dion this year, but through it all, she’s lived in the moment.
“We are healing each day,” she said. “My kids are doing really well and eventually you have to just move on. Yesterday is over, tomorrow is not here yet, so today is today.”
