Céline Dion Talks First Christmas Without Her Husband

12/21/2016 10:56 pm EST

Céline Dion is prepping for her first Christmas holiday without her husband Rene Angelil.

In an interview with Page Six about this "bittersweet" time for her and her three children. "I cannot just live on like, 'I lost my husband, my children have no father,'" she said during the interview. "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 says she will be spending the holiday in Montana skiing with her kids, a tradition the family has always had before Angelil grew too sick to attend. "He put some something magic into that snow, into those mountains, and every time we go down, I go down with him," she admitted. "My children go down thinking about him. Every time I take the lift to go up, I feel closer to him."

Dion says she needs to make the holidays happy, regardless of the one-year anniversary in January. "I feel thankful that he doesn't suffer and he doesn't have to worry because we got him. He got us and the spirit of the holidays will get us together again...We're going to ski again all together and he will be there with us."

She says her twins Eddy and Nelson will ski for the first time this year. The family plans to mediate and relax during this trying time.

Disclosure: PopCulture. is owned by Paramount. Sign up for Paramount+ by clicking here.