Emma Heming Shares Emotional Holiday Update as Bruce Willis Battles Dementia
Emma Heming has shared a personal update on how her family is living through the holiday season as Bruce Willis continues to face dementia. Her comments come from a written essay she published on her own website, where she spoke openly about caregiving, loss, and change.
Heming, 47, has been married to the actor for more than a decade. They share two daughters, Mabel Ray, 13, and Evelyn, 11. In her essay, titled The Holidays Look Different Now, she explained that the season no longer feels the same as it once did. Willis, 70, lives with frontotemporal dementia and aphasia, conditions that have slowly changed daily life for the family.
She wrote that holidays now bring mixed emotions. While the season still holds meaning, it also highlights what has been lost. “The holidays have a way of holding up a mirror, reflecting who we’ve been, who we are, and what we imagined they would be,” Heming shared. She explained that traditions now take effort and careful planning.
“Traditions that once felt somewhat effortless require planning, lots of planning. Moments that once brought uncomplicated joy may arrive tangled in a web of grief.”
Even so, Heming said joy has not vanished completely. She shared that her family has learned to find comfort in smaller moments. “There can still be warmth. There can still be joy. I’ve learned that the holidays don’t disappear when dementia enters your life. They change.”
She also addressed grief and said it does not only come after death. According to Heming, grief can begin while a loved one is still alive. “Grief doesn’t only belong to death,” she wrote. “It belongs to change and the ambiguous loss caregivers know so well.” She added that grief grows from knowing life will not follow the path once expected and from losing familiar routines and roles.
Heming reflected on how much Willis loved the holidays and the role he once played at home. “For me, the holidays carry memories of Bruce being at the center of it all,” she said. “He loved this time of year, the energy, family time, the traditions.”
She remembered him as the person who kept things moving and brought everyone together. “He was the pancake-maker, the get-out-in-the-snow-with-the-kids guy, the steady presence moving through the house as the day unfolded.”
She said those memories remain strong, even as the present feels painful. “Dementia doesn’t erase those memories. But it does create space between then and now. And that space can ache.” Heming explained that small moments during the holidays can now trigger sadness and remind her of how different things have become.
Heming also spoke about letting go of the pressure to make the holidays feel the same as before. She said adjusting expectations is not a failure. “It’s adapting. It’s choosing compassion and reality over perfection.”
The essay, shared directly by Heming, offers an honest look at how families deal with illness during meaningful times of the year. It highlights the emotional weight caregivers carry and the strength it takes to move forward while holding onto memories.
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