Bruce Willis’ children are staying strong despite lamenting over their father’s battle with frontotemporal dementia.
The retired actor’s wife, Emma Heming Willis, recently told Vogue Australia how that the couple’s daughters — Mabel, 13, and Evelyn, 11 — are handling the grim situation.
“I think they’re doing well, all things considered. But it’s hard. They grieve,” Heming Willis told the outlet.
“They miss their dad so much. He’s missing important milestones. That’s tough for them. But kids are resilient,” she continued. “[Although] I used to hate hearing that because people didn’t understand what we were walking through. I don’t know if my kids will ever bounce back. But they’re learning, and so am I.”
The actor’s family first shared news of the actor’s diagnosis in 2022, stating that he was experiencing aphasia, a condition caused by brain damage that impacts a person’s ability to communicate and understand written and spoken language. The announcement coincided with the now 70-year-old’s retirement, ending a four-decade career that spanned 100-plus film appearances and earned Willis one Golden Globe and two Primetime Emmys, among other honors.
In 2023, Moore explained on social media that Bruce’s “condition has progressed” to frontotemporal dementia, also referred to as FTD. The brain disorder attack causes damage to the frontal and temporal lobes, resulting in personality changes and difficulty with language or speech, according to Alzheimer’s Association.
The award-winning action star now lives in a “second home” where he can receive 24-hour care, as mentioned in the special, “Emma and Bruce Willis: The Unexpected Journey – A Diane Sawyer Special.”
During the special, Heming Willis revealed that her husband lives separately from her and their daughters so he can receive around-the-clock care. The arrangement also means that Bruce will not be disturbed by any noise from his family, which can potentially agitate his dementia, per PEOPLE.
“We’re there a lot. It’s our second home, so the girls have their things there,” Heming Willis said of the “nearby” living quarters, according to PEOPLE. “It was one of the hardest decisions that I’ve had to make so far. But I knew, first and foremost, Bruce would want that for our daughters,” Heming Willis added, according to Consequence. “You know, he would want them to be in a home that was more tailored to their needs, not his needs.”
Heming Willis has opened up about her husband’s health several times this year. In June, she reflected on her husband’s diagnosis in an Instagram post on Father’s Day (June 15) stating that “these symbolic days stir up a lot.”
“Happy Father’s Day to all the dads living with disability or disease, showing up in the ways they can and to the children who show up for them,” she wrote in an Instagram post, which depicted Willis with his face obscured by a hat.
“I’m profoundly sad today,” she wrote. “I wish, with every cell in my body, that things could be different for him and lighter for our family.”
But Heming Willis also used the post to share some uplifting messages, and spoke about her husband’s presence in the lives of his children, who also include three other daughters — Rumer, Scout and Tallulah — with his ex-wife Demi Moore.
“What Bruce teaches our girls goes far beyond words,” she wrote. “Resilience, unconditional love, and the quiet strength in simply being present.”
Heming Willis ended the post on an uplifting note, encouraging readers to celebrate the fathers in their own lives.
“As they say in our FTD community, ‘It is what it is.’ And while that might sound dismissive, to me, it’s not,” she concluded. “It grounds me. It helps me return to the acceptance of what is and not fight this every step of the way like I used to. Today, let’s celebrate the badass dads, those who are here, and those we carry with us.”
