Bruce Willis' children have 'adapted' to star in 'beautiful' way – but 'miss' him
Bruce Willis' wife Emma Heming Willis opens up about how she has learned to navigate her way through the Hollywood star's dementia two years on from diagnosis
When it emerged that Bruce Willis had been diagnosed with frontotemporal dementia two years ago, the world stood still as many struggled to believe that of Hollywood's action hero. And while fans across the world have seen social media posts of Bruce with his ex-wife Demi Moore and his children from both marriages looking happier than ever, his wife Emma Heming Willis says the children miss their father.
Emma came under fire when it was revealed that she had chosen to purchase a second home for Bruce, where he receives round the clock help from care assistants. It also ensures that the wellbeing of their two daughters' is taken care of, too.
Emma opened up about the family's new normal. Bruce's second wife explained: "When they come home from school, Mabel and Evelyn pile into the house and sit on their father’s lap, clambering over him, holding their faces against his, running around the garden as he watches from his chair."
She continued to The Times: "You can see the tenderness of it. The girls don’t need him to be this or do that. They have really adapted to his disease and they know how to move around him. It’s beautiful, but it’s hard for them. They miss him."
The 70 year old actor, who is best known for his action-packed movies including his Die Hard films, married Emma in 2009, nine years after his divorce from fellow Hollywood star Demi Moore.
Since their life changed following Bruce's diagnosis, the mum of two has done her best to use her platform to raise awareness of the brain disease.
Aside from speaking engagements, she has also become an author as she has written a book titled The Unexpected Journey. The book is a detailed guide for carers on how to discuss the illness with their children and also how to safeguard their own physical and mental health.
She went on to say: "Bruce and I now have our own language, our own way to be with each other. It’s just about sitting with him, walking with him, listening to him as he tries to verbalise in his own language. Hearing him, validating him. You know."
But despite her steely determination to create a sense of normality for her children, it seems her new way of life continues to weigh heavy on her - emotionally.
In the interview, Emma struggles to hold back tears as she says: "It’s hard. FTD is just an unkind disease — it constantly takes. Even when you think it can’t take any more, it takes a little more."
She added: "Bruce’s disease, I believe, has given him this one grace: to not know what FTD is."
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