Céline’s film of choice for delivering the heartbreaking news to her twin boys, was Disney’s Up — the heartwarming children’s story about fulfilling your dreams and letting go. The singer revealed to People magazine that she actually waited a few days after René lost his third battle with cancer to tell Nelson and Eddy about what had happened. But when the time was right, the star threw them a glitter and balloon-filled party.
“I did not want to relate the passing to doctors and have them be afraid,” Céline said, adding that easing them into the concept of death is, “the thing I’m most proud of.” The party occurred before René’s funeral, and it was there she revealed that “Papa” had “gone up” – floating away on balloons, never to return.
Is anybody else tearing up? Death is SUCH a challenging subject matter to explain to kids so we’re sure Céline was beyond thankful for Disney’s help. And we have to say, we think she handled the whole situation brilliantly. The singer also has a 15-year-old son named René-Charles Angelil, and, according to her, René lives on in each of their children. “I see René in all three of them,” she gushed. “Not one moment do I feel like they’re looking for him and questioning.”
René, Céline’s longtime manager and mentor, was 73 when he died. He had unfortunately suffered through three separate bouts of cancer after first being diagnosed in 1999. He ended up losing his battle back in January after his throat cancer returned in 2014. “He left me with all his strength,” Céline also revealed in the interview. “Every day we live with him, just not physically. I’m thankful that he does not suffer anymore.”
Tell us, HollywoodLifers — what do you think about Celine’s way of teaching her kids about death? Did she handle the tragic situation well?