Celine Dion Opens Up About Holiday Plans, 'Bittersweet' First Christmas Without Rene Angelil

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Celine Dion is preparing for her first Christmas without her late husband, Rene Angelil.

The 48-year-old singer recently opened up to Page Six about traveling to Montana with her kids -- the family's tradition until Angelil felt too ill to travel last year -- as a way to remember Angelil, and be at peace over the "bittersweet" holiday season.


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"I cannot just live on like, 'I lost my husband; my children have no father,'" she said. "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."

Angelil died in January after a long battle with throat cancer, but Dion says that she and her sons --15-year-old Rene-Charles and 6-year-old twins Nelson and Eddy -- will be able to feel Angelil's presence as the anniversary of his death approaches around the holidays.

"He put something magic into that snow, into those mountains, and every time we go down, I go down with him," she explained. "My children go down thinking about him. Every time I take the lift to go up, I feel closer to him."


WATCH: Celine Dion Says Rene Angelil Is the Only Man She Has Ever Kissed

"I can't believe it's going to be a year that my husband passed," she shared. "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."

"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 that a few family friends will join in on the trip, but she doesn't want too many people around.

"For me, the trip is not to party. It's to try and meditate, 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," she said. "We are healing each day. 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."


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