Christmas is fast approaching and for most people, it's the most joyous time of the year. For singer Celine Dion, however, it might prove to be a difficult time, as she assumes that this might be the last Christmas she will get to spend with her cancer-stricken husband, René Angélil.
Dion first met Angélil when she was 12 years old. He soon became her manager and later, in 1994, her husband.
The 73-year-old was first diagnosed with throat cancer in 1999 but initially seemed to get better. But the cancer worsened in 2013 and it was revealed to be terminal. Having lost his ability to speak and eat, Angélil now has to be fed through a tube.
Neither of them know how much time Angélil has got left, as the doctors are also unable to provide a number.
"We have asked (doctors) many times, how long does he have, three weeks, three months? René wants to know," she says in an interview with USA Today. "But they say they don't know."
The Grammy Award winner is currently back on stage, but only because her husband wants her to resume performing.
"Don't forget, he's been the leader of the band all my life," she says. "So it (hacks) him off to not see me all day and over here working. But he wants me to do this, do the show, do the interviews. But he freaks when I'm not home with him, too."
The couple has a 14-year-old son together named René-Charles, and a set of fraternal twin boys, 4-year-olds Nelson and Eddy.
Now, after a year-long hiatus due to her husband's condition, Dion is performing again and preparing herself for the future. But perhaps the most heartbreaking sentiments that she shared has to do with Angélil's request.
"And René says to me, 'I want to die in your arms.' OK, fine, I'll be there, you'll die in my arms."
