Celine Dion and Rene Angelil went through a hard time with his cancer battle but eventually they were blessed with their first child together.
Sometimes people go through the hardest personal battles to be able to see light at the end of the tunnel. The difficulty in getting something might make the attainment that much sweeter for a lot of people. Whether that's getting a promotion at work, and sometimes, it could be something far more precious, like having a baby after trying for a long time.
Celine Dion's husband, Rene Angelil, who died in January 2016, and the singer had one of the most fabled love stories in the music industry. Their devotion to each other started very early in the singer's life and she had been by his side until he died. They started dating when she was 19 and he, 45. The couple got married in December 1994 at Notre-Dame Basilica in Montreal, Quebec.
"I went to his office and I sang in front of him and I was 12 years old, and we've been working together since that time," Dion told ET in a candid interview. "I'm not surprised that we married each other, because we have the same dreams," she continues. "We have the same goals. We respect each other."
A few years after the couple got married they were trying to have a child together but they discovered that he had cancer. Angelil found a lump in his neck, which was diagnosed, and what later took his life too. The My Heart Will Go On singer took two years off from work to be with her husband while he underwent two operations and six weeks of radiation treatment.
"When something like this happens to you it hits you so hard," the singer said at the time. "But I felt very strong because I said to myself, 'Rene needs me maybe for the first time in my life.'"
When he was declared free of cancer in 2000 the couple renewed their vows to each other and fell deeper in love. They were soon blessed with their first child, Rene-Charles Angelil, on January 25, 2001. They saw the birth of their son as a blessing after the difficult life-threatening battle. In one interview with talk show host Oprah Winfrey, Angelil opened up about the precious gift he had been given.
According to Hello! Magazine, the first time he saw his son the thought that popped into his head was: "Instantly I would have died for him." He further described his morning routine with his son to Oprah. "I'm always with him, and the morning is the greatest thing," Angelil said, as per Oprah.com. "Every dad knows that. When he wakes up and he smiles... all my time is for him."
She asked him if it was a miracle for him to have a child at a stage when he had just fought cancer. "Yeah, incredible. I mean three years ago, at one point, we had been married for five years, trying to have a child and all of a sudden, this news about the cancer... you think you're gonna die," he had said. "And then, a miracle, you know right now I have to touch wood, everything is alright, and on top of that we have the most beautiful child," he said as he raised his son to his lap.
The couple had brought their first child together to the show and at one point the pitter-patter of his tiny feet distracted his parents. Dion interjected her husband who was talking about his experience as a father after cancer to say that it was hard to concentrate with a little child. She added that she and her husband were always distracted.
Angelil tried to entertain his child by asking if he would like to go in the garage and the I'm Alive singer said that she was trying to make a beautiful home for themselves but her son wants to hit the garage. The besotted father said that his son loves going to the garage and hit the button to open the door. This was only one of the ways the father spent time with his child.
The couple later welcomed fraternal twins, Eddy and Nelson, in 2010 after going through public and intense rounds of in vitro fertilization, as per Hello! Magazine. Becoming a dad at this point again may have given him a new lease on life but cancer eventually returned and claimed his life.
References:
https://www.etonline.com/news/180062_celine_dion_rene_angelil_most_romantic_moments_a_timeline
https://ca.hellomagazine.com/celebrities/02016011422009/rene-angelil-sweetest-quotes-about-celine-dion-and-fatherhood
http://www.oprah.com/own-oprahshow/celine-dions-husband-rene-angelil-on-how-fatherhood-changed-his-life
