Celine Dion had opened up about losing her husband and manager René Angélil to cancer six months ago, and says she and her children pay tribute to him every day.
The 48-year-old singer insists she has emerged from the huge loss a stronger person and said the sad experience made her realise the power of motherhood.
"I feel wonderful. I feel strong, I feel good," she told U.S. breakfast show Today. "It's been a journey. It's been hard seeing the love of your life suffering for the last three years, it's been really hard, but millions of people are going through this, and I feel very strong because not only did he love me so much for many, many lives to come, he gave me three magnificent kids, so much knowledge, stability, and confidence."
Dion admitted she had to be strong for their three sons, Rene-Charles and five-year-old twins Eddy and Nelson.
"When I feel good, the kids are feeling great, and when the kids are feeling great, I feel good," Dion explained, of how they helped each other through the tough time, "but I think it's all about feeling very strong and positive and they sense it.
"They sense that mum is OK. They know what's going on; they know that dad is not coming back. They know that they have to live with him, but differently..."
"If I may say, and I'm very proud of myself because I think the role of a mother, for me anyway, kinda started the day that he (passed). We'd always been partners for many, many, many years, and... we were 50/50 - I think he left the other 50 (per cent) to me (when he died) for me to feel very strong and manage, and say to my kids, 'It's gonna be fine,'" she added.
Dion revealed the ways in which she helps her children remember their father and says that as a family they pay tribute to him every day.
"(We use) pictures, videos, all that, talking about dad, 'Oh, dad would love that!' Like, 'OK, have a bite for dad,' 'Thanks dad!', or 'Cheers, that one's for you because it's your favourite, thank you so much'," she explained.
Eddy has even encouraged his family to say goodnight to Rene before bedtime: "They have a picture of him and I caught one of my sons (Eddy) talking to his dad, saying, 'Dad, I want you to know that I love you very much... We're gonna be watching The Croods (animated movie) right now, and I hope you love it too.'
"And then he said, 'Nelson, come say goodnight to dad!' Every night, we take the picture and we kiss (it) and we say that we love him."
Dion first met Angélil, in 1980, when she was 12 and he was 38, after her brother, Michel Dondalinger Dion, sent him a demonstration recording of Ce n'était qu'un rêve, or It Was Only a Dream/Nothing But A Dream, a song she, her mother the former Thérèse Tanguay, and her brother Jacques Dion had jointly written and composed.
They began a relationship in 1987 and became engaged in 1991. They married on 17 December 1994 at Notre-Dame Basilica in Montreal, Quebec.
On 5 January 2000, Dion and Angelil renewed their wedding vows in Las Vegas.
