Celine Dion reveals the beautiful way she stays connected to late husband
Céline Dion’s beloved husband of 21 years René Angélil died in January last year, but the singer revealed she finds ways to celebrate his memory every day.
“I don’t have my husband next to me, but he’s within me, so nothing has really changed,” Dion told PEOPLE. “I see him through the eyes of my children every day. My husband is everywhere.”
Dion said she still talks to her late husband through his photos every day and will involve her husband in the major decisions in her life by consulting his photographs for guidance.
“I make changes, I have to see a picture of him and I talk to him,” the singer says. “I say, ‘I’m not trying to redo some of the things that maybe you’ve done. We’ve tried them and I’m pretty comfortable with it, so are you okay with that? If you’re not, give me a little sign or something.'”
One such example? Dion was recently asked record a new song for Disney’s live action Beauty and the Beast.
The Canadian songstress admitted she initially hesitated as she was making the big decision with Angélil. But he had encouraged her to record the duet for the 1991 animated original film which helped launch her career in the United States.
“It’s a classic that will be with me for the rest of my life,” she says. “And now my husband is not there and I was looking for him to help me to make the decision. And then I said, ‘I have nothing to lose,’ because these people – the casting directors, the songwriters, the producers, everyone — they are the family that were there 25 years ago and I think René would have said yes also.”
When it comes to remembering Angélil’s with their three sons, René-Charles, 16, and twins Eddy and Nelson, 6, Dion says the focus has been on the celebration of the great father and husband.
“We’re not not looking at pictures because it’s going to bring sadness,” she says. “We look at him and we laugh and we have a good time. Even my oldest, he imitates his dad and [it’s as though Angélil] is in the house with us.”
“It’s just a new way of living without your husband. And it takes time, we’re coping very well,” she says. “It’s like I’m a duo. I’m always going to be Céline and René and I don’t want that to ever change,” Dion says.