Emma Heming Willis recently shared a heartfelt blog post aimed at those navigating a holiday season filled with both responsibilities and affection for loved ones.
In Washington, Heming Willis opened up about how festive times have transformed since her husband, Bruce Willis, received a dementia diagnosis.
“I’ve penned a reflection on celebrating the holidays amidst dementia, highlighting how this time can simultaneously evoke grief, loss, love, and profound moments,” she expressed. “Although a dementia diagnosis alters the holiday experience, it doesn’t erase it. This change, while poignant, can also pave the way for new traditions, gentle joys, and meaningful connections.”
Her writing is directed at those enduring the season with heavy hearts, yet still caring deeply for those around them.
“Grief isn’t exclusive to death,” she noted. “It’s about change and the ambiguous loss that caregivers know intimately. It’s about coming to terms with the fact that things won’t unfold as they once did.”
Heming Willis reflected on her mourning for the shift in their holiday routine, reminiscing about Bruce’s love for the season—his enthusiasm for the energy, family gatherings, and traditions. She described him as someone who delighted in making pancakes and playing in the snow with their children, acknowledging how dementia has introduced a gap between those cherished memories and their current reality.
“That space can ache,” she wrote. “I find myself, harmlessly, cursing Bruce’s name while wrestling with the holiday lights or taking on tasks that used to be his. Not because I’m mad at him, never that, but because I miss the way he once led the holiday charge.”
She encouraged caregivers to be flexible and adapt during the holidays.
“When dementia is part of your family, ‘normal’ becomes a moving target,” she wrote.
She also reminded readers that while grief can be felt, it doesn’t have to be the only thing you experience during the holidays.
“The joy doesn’t cancel out the sadness. The sadness doesn’t cancel out the joy. They coexist,” she wrote.
“There’s no denying that the holidays are different now. But different doesn’t mean empty,” she wrote. “If this season feels heavy for you, please know that you’re not alone. You’re not doing it wrong. And there is no single “right” way to move through this time of year when dementia is part of your life. There is only your way. And that is enough.”
The couple married in 2009 and share two daughters, Mabel Willis and Evelyn Willis. The former action star was previously married to actress Demi Moore, with whom he has three daughters.
Bruce Willis retired from acting in 2022 after he was diagnosed with aphasia and then frontotemporal dementia (FTD). The 70-year-old “Die Hard” star has rarely been seen in public since then, but the family occasionally post photos and videos with him on social media.
