As Bruce Willis’ family celebrated his 68th birthday on Sunday, the actor’s wife took to social media to pay a heartfelt tribute to him — and speak candidly about the reality of caring for a loved one with frontotemporal dementia.
“I started the morning crying as you can see from my swollen eyes and snotty nose,” Emma Heming Willis said in an Instagram Reel. “I just think it’s important that you see all sides of it.”
“I always get this message where people always say to me, ‘Oh, you’re so strong. I don’t know how you do it,'” the 44-year-old continued. “I have no choice. I wish I was, but I’m also raising two kids with it,” referring to the couple’s two young children, Mabel, 10, and Evelyn, 8.
“Sometimes in our lives we have to put on our big girl panties and get there. And I do,” she said. “But I have times of sadness every day, grief every day, and I really feel it today on his birthday.”
Heming Willis said she was putting together another reel for Willis’ birthday, adding that rewinding the videos was “like a knife in my heart,” but she was determined to see it through. “As much as I’m doing it for myself, I’m doing it for you because I know how much you love my husband,” she said, before telling herself, “Don’t cry Emma.”
In her caption, Heming Willis expressed her gratitude to her husband’s family supporters and fans, saying, “The silver lining or downside is I’m so lucky to feel your warmth and love… I see your messages, your stories that you share and all I can say is thank you.”
A few hours later, she released a compilation reel showing Willis before his health issues ended his acting career, a struggle that was first released last March. Originally thought to be suffering from aphasia, a rare cognitive disorder that affects communication, Willis was eventually diagnosed with frontotemporal dementia in February. “While this is painful, it is a relief to finally have a clear diagnosis,” the family said in a statement.
Less than three weeks later, Heming Willis publicly appealed to the paparazzi to stop yelling and harassing her husband when he was out in public. “The woo-hooing and the yippee-ki-yay’s — just don’t do it,” she said on Instagram. “Give him the room. Allow our family or whoever is with him that day to get him from point A to point B safely. This is my PPE.”
The actor’s other loved ones also rallied around him on Sunday, and Demi Moore – who was married to Willis from 1987 to 2000 – shared her own Instagram tribute. She released a home video, apparently recorded earlier that same day, of a delighted-looking Willis being sung “Happy Birthday” by his family, including Heming Willis.
“Happy birthday, BW! So glad we got to celebrate you today,” Moore captioned the video. “I love you and love our family. Thank you everyone for the love and warm wishes – we all feel them.”
Moore and Willis, who have remained on good terms after their 13-year marriage ended, share three daughters, including Scout Willis. The 31-year-old expressed her mixed feelings in her own Sunday post on her father’s birthday.
“What a privilege to have this man for a father and to learn so much about life, joy, mischief and art through him,” she wrote alongside a photo of her being carried on his shoulders as a little girl .
“Today is not necessarily an easy day as it is a day of deep love and our sadness really shows us the depth of our love for someone. So today I’m trying to be with both of them.”
“Grief is a price I will always pay to know what it means to feel love like that,” she added.