It’s been more than a year since Céline Dion lost the love of her life – and she admits it hasn’t gotten easier. Theirs was a love that withstood the test of time and fame. Celine’s husband Rene Angelil was both her manager for more than 30 years and her husband for 21 years.
The two met when Celine was just 12. They were acquaintances, then good friends. Then when she was 19 and he was 45, they began a romantic interlude that lasted decades.
Screenshot via YouTube
Rene was the only man Celine ever dated. The only man she’d ever kissed. So when he lost his long battle with throat cancer, it shook Celine to her core. She said she will grieve “for the rest of my life.”
“I love him. I’m still in love with him. And I have the love of my children. I have the love of my fans. I love the people that I work with. So my life is not empty of love. But there’s a song from Sia, ‘I go to sleep and imagine that you’re there with me.’ And I go to bed with him. And I come on stage with him. And so I’m still married to him.”
Screenshot via YouTube
To help her family of four cope with the loss of Rene, she bought a huge bed and allows her twin sons Nelson and Eddy, 6, to sleep there with her. She and Rene also have a 16-year-old son, Rene-Charles. Until the boys are ready to be on their own at night, they’ll stay with Celine in her room.
“They are comforting me a lot. I need them. I need them close. When it’s time for them to say they want their room, their room’s ready.”
Screenshot via YouTube
At night when their minds turn to thoughts of Rene and how much they miss him, they all pile into the big bed and watch TV together. But they still don’t want the memories of Rene to slip away, so they have a special bedtime routine.
“We kiss him every night. We have a little ritual where we say goodnight to him with a little picture. Then the kids talk to him. And they write words, put them in balloons and we send the balloons to the sky. He’s the love of my life. The love that I have for him, I live it every day.”
Below Celine talks about her love for Rene and her brother’s death to cancer.
Even though he’s gone from this earth, Celine still talks to Rene all the time. When friends and family have asked if she’ll ever fall in love again, she tells them no. She is still “deeply in love” with Rene, even though she has only his memories to keep her comforted. What an incredible love story they shared.
