Celine Dion Remembers Late Husband Nearly a Year After His Death

Celine Dion is celebrating the holidays for the first time without her late husband, René Angélil.

Angélil, who had also been Dion's manager for decades and her husband since 1994, passed away Jan. 14 after a long battle with throat cancer. He died two days before his 74th birthday.

Dion told the New York Post's Page Six that although this time of year is "bittersweet," she can't afford to break down.

"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," Dion added.

Dion, 48, said that despite Angélil's looming absence, the family still plans to continue their Christmas tradition and go skiing in Big Sky, Montana.

In fact, her 6-year-old twins Nelson and Eddy will take to the slopes for the first time this year. The couple also has another son, 15-year-old René-Charles.

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

With the one-year anniversary of his death coming next month, Dion reflected on what that milestone means for her and her children.

"I can’t believe it’s going to be a year that my husband passed," she said. "It’s kind of a bittersweet moment and at the same time we need to really make the holidays really happy."

After her Christmas vacation, Dion will resume her Las Vegas residency on Jan. 17. She hopes to use her time in Montana to prepare.

"For me the trip is not to party," she clarified. "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."