Forever and always. Celine Dion is healing after the death of her beloved husband, Rene Angelil. The French-Canadian singer opened up to Matt Lauer on the Today show on Friday, July 22, about processing the loss along with her three sons.
“I feel strong. I feel good,” Dion, 48, said on the morning show. “It’s been a journey. It’s been hard seeing the love of your life suffer of the last three years.”
“@TODAYshow: “It’s been a journey.” – @celinedion talks love, loss and healing with @MLauer #CelineTODAY pic.twitter.com/YNYeALxqMq”💖
— Selina Kyle (@Gotham_SelinaK) July 22, 2016
Angelil — who was Dion’s manager and husband of 21 years — died at age 74, this past January in the family’s Las Vegas home following a prolonged battle with throat cancer. A state memorial was held on January 22, in Montreal, Canada, in his memory. Still, his love endures.
“I feel very strong,” his wife said Friday. “Not only that he loved me so much — for many, many lives to come. He gave me three magnificent kids. So much knowledge. [And] stability and confidence.”
Dion, 48, and her late husband share three children, 15-year-old Rene-Charles and 5-year-old twins Nelson and Eddy. “When I feel good, the kids are feeling great. When the kids are feeling great, I feel good,” she told Lauer. “I think it’s all about feeling very strong and positive. They sense it. They sense that mom is okay. They know that dad is not coming back. They know that they have to live with him —but differently.”
Dion concluded the interview by sharing how exactly she’s been coping. “I’m very proud of myself,” she reflected, “because I think the role of the mother started — we’d always been partners for many many years — i think he left the other 50. He left it to me.”
