A son-in-law for life

Maternal love can take various forms. For Christine Beaulieu, the attachment for her former son-in-law continued long after her separation from his father – and turned out to be mutual. For the first time, they sat down to discuss this special bond that unites them.

Laila Maalouf
The Press

One of his earliest memories of Christine dates back to when she was 7 years old. Émile Dubois accompanied his father on a trip to Italy, where the actress was on tour for a theater performance. “I remember it was like an event to go and join her. I imagine as much for my father as for me,” says the young man.

Today, Emile is 24 years old. The age that Christine Beaulieu was when she met Émile’s father and became the stepmother of this child whom she immediately adopted.

“With Émile, it was never complicated. He was a child very easy to love,” she recalls fondly. She gave him his bath, told him stories in the evening, welcomed him into her family, where he still remembers those beautiful holiday seasons.

“I was happy to have a son-in-law, and he was very happy that we were together”, she underlines, while he evokes this period of his life when she was his step- mother, from 7 to 15 years old, as a “pivotal” moment in her life.

An unbreakable bond

Even though Christine Beaulieu separated from Émile’s father when he was a teenager, their bond has not disappeared. She confides that what was most difficult for her in this separation, it was to think that she would never see again this boy to whom she had given so much love.

“The separation happened when I was a teenager, so there was a time when our paths split. But I always knew that we were going to make contact from time to time; I did not feel that it was a definitive separation”, underlines Émile.

For her part, Christine did not really know how to maintain her relationship with Émile, while respecting the new life of her ex.

Then there was this summer in Carleton, in the Gaspé, which is without a doubt, for both of them, the moment that confirmed to them that they could continue to maintain a bond “beyond official relationship of mother-in-law, son-in-law”. The actress was performing in a play and staying in a chalet on site with her new lover. Emile had made a girlfriend whom he wanted to join in Carleton. “I don’t know how it went through his head, but in any case, he ended up with us for two or three weeks,” she says, laughing.

But for him, the reasoning was very simple, basically. Christine in Gaspésie, it was as if someone from her family was there.

“I was so happy that he was there, to live these important moments with him. We had fun! And for me, it wasn’t at all strange to have Émile under my roof. It was completely natural, I was just continuing the relationship I had with him. And that’s when I said to myself that it’s possible to continue to have a relationship with this child. »

Return of the pendulum

Since then, there have been other moments that bring tears to her eyes when she thinks about it. Like the time, three years ago, when he came to bring her flowers with her girlfriend for her birthday. “There, I really cried, says Christine Beaulieu. It touched me a lot to see him. It’s beautiful, how things come back over time, like the swing of the pendulum. All this love, all the energy and the time that I gave him when he was little… He couldn’t understand, it’s normal, he couldn’t realize everything we had together . »

“For me, these are unforgettable memories. It’s beautiful for me to see Émile grow up because I saw him very young, with his strengths, his little weaknesses as a boy. He took on a lot of confidence growing up, I’m really impressed. He has a girlfriend, he is doing very well in his studies. I feel very, very proud for Émile and I say to myself: if I was able to give him the love he needed while I was there, so much the better. It’s still not trivial, this closeness that we had. »