Celine Dion has shared a sweet photo of her with her sons ahead of the one-year anniversary of the passing of their father, René Angélil, on Jan. 14.
The photo, taken by Denise Truscello, shows the tight-knit family celebrating their first Christmas without him. The memory, which she posted on Instagram, features the singer, René-Charles, 15, and twins Eddy and Nelson, 6, perched on a chair in front of a beautifully decorated tree. The entire family is wearing matching white or red and white ensembles. It also shows Eddy and Nelson sporting shorter locks.
Celine kept the photo's caption short and sweet: "Holiday memories! Now time to get back to work! Souvenirs des fêtes! Maintenant, on retourne au boulot!" It was no doubt a bittersweet time for the award-winning artist, who spoke openly in December about how difficult the holidays would be for her and her family.
René passed away in January 2016 after a long battle with cancer
"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." The photo was taken at a resort in Montana where Celine, René and the boys regularly celebrated Christmas. "He put something magic into that snow, into those mountains, and every time we go down, I go down with him," she added. "My children go down thinking about him. Every time I take the lift to go up, I feel closer to him."
Celine went on to say she was looking forward to some downtime before returning to her residency in Las Vegas. "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." The My Heart Will Go On singer is set to have a busy 2017. Not only will she release a new album, rumour has it she'll embark on a tour to support its tunes.