Inspirational Message From Celine Dion, Who Lost Her Husband to Cancer, Reminds Us Happier Times Will Come: “Here’s to Beautiful Days Ahead”

“The greater the storm, the brighter the rainbow. Here’s to beautiful days ahead,” Dion wrote.

Related: Celine Dion's Touching Tribute to Her Beloved Husband Rene, Who Died Four Years Ago From Throat Cancer

This message especially rings true for Dion, seeing as she lost her husband to cancer a few years ago when he was 73-years-old. The couple married in 1994, and four years after they wed, Angélil’s doctors discovered a lump on his neck and was diagnosed with throat cancer. He went into a brief remission after being successfully treated, but the disease returned in 2014. Despite undergoing surgery, which removed parts of this tongue, he succumbed to the disease in 2016.

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Angélil was an impressive producer and music manager throughout his life, and is credited for discovering Dion and launching her career into stardom. He stepped down as her manager in 2014.

Looking on the Bright Side Isn’t Always Easy

Even though studies have proved remaining positive can help successful treatment outcomes, it’s a lot easier said than done. Cancer treatment can be a grueling process, affecting you both mentally and emotionally, even though your support system may push you to look on the bright side, it’s understandable if you’re struggling with it.

Related: Majority of Throat Cancer Diagnoses Are Caused by HPV Here's What You Need to Know

When Kate Bowler was diagnosed with stage 4 colon cancer, she tells SurvivorNet that she felt pressured to remain optimistic throughout treatment, which she refers to as “bright siding.”

“I hate the bright siding, because I would never want someone who’s suffering to feel the burden of positivity,” Kate says.

Stage 4 colon cancer survivor Kate Bowler talks pressure to look at the bright side

Bowler is a historian and associate professor at Duke Divinity School, and she says her faith was both a blessing and curse during her cancer journey. Even though her faith served as a support system, she still struggled with feeling like a failure and believing she was being punished. However, in the end, she learned an important lesson from her experience  that you can’t control everything that happens to you, and sometimes it occurs for a reason.

Related: "Every Day is a Gift:" How an Optimistic Olivia Newton-John Sees The Bright Side of Her Cancer Journey

“I can’t reconcile the contradiction, but I am learning to live and to love without reasons and assurances that nothing will be lost,” Kate says. “I think spirituality can cut both ways. It can be an incredible source of community and love, and it can also be a very problematic explanatory device that people use to try to figure out why it happened to you and not them.”

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