Back in February, just two days before his 74th birthday, songtress Celine Dion bid a tragic farewell to her husband René Angélil, the love of her life.
Now, as the one-year mark approaches, the brave mother-of-three gears up for her first holiday season without him.
Speaking to Page Six, the My Heart Will Go On songbird opened up on how she’s coping through the tough time.
“I cannot just live on like, ‘I lost my husband; my children have no father,'” the 48-year-old began.
“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.”
Pictured here with son René-Charles, Celine has spent the year finding strength in her children after her husband’s passing.
She plans to spend the coming weeks skiing in Montana with 15-year-old Rene-Charles and six-year-old twins Eddy and Nelson.
The alpine trip is tradition that she, along with her late-husband of 22 years, had cherished annually until last year, when he was too ill to travel.
“He put some something magic into that snow, into those mountains, and every time we go down, I go down with him,” Celine mused of the Big Sky resort.
“My children go down thinking about him. Every time I take the lift to go up, I feel closer to him.”
Celine hopes the family will use their time on holidays to reflect and find peace in their memories with their father.
She hopes the vacation will be spent finding peace and comfort in the family’s precious memories of the life they once lived all together, rather than mourning what is now lost.
“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…”
WATCH: Celine reveals Rene to be the only man she’s ever kissed in the video player below. Post continues…
After resuming her Las Vegas residency and bravely opening up about her loss in countless interviews throughout the year that was, Celine has shown both vulnerability and strength in moving forward with her life.
But as René Angélil’s death anniversary approaches, Celine admits her disbelief for how quickly time has passed.
“I can’t believe it’s going to be a year that my husband passed. 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.”
The Grammy award-winner went on: “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.”
The couple married in 1994 in Montreal, when Celine was 26-years-old.
Along with the death of her brother Daniel to cancer just two days on from Rene’s untimely passing, it’s certainly been a rocky year for the French Canadian icon.
“We are healing each day,” she says. “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.”
