Emma Heming Willis has revealed that relocating her husband Bruce Willis to a specialized home for his dementia care was the most challenging decision she has faced during his illness. The move, made to support Bruce’s frontotemporal dementia (FTD), aims to provide the 70-year-old actor with the calm environment essential for his condition.
The family’s carefully chosen one-story house, described as their “second home,” offers a peaceful and secure space with continuous care. This arrangement has allowed their daughters, Mabel, 13, and Evelyn, 11, to enjoy a more normal childhood.
“The kids can have playdates and sleepovers [again] and not have to walk around tiptoeing,”
Emma Heming Willis said.
Balancing Needs Within the Family Unit
Although the separation was emotionally difficult, Heming Willis highlighted how the change has brought a sense of calm to everyone involved. The new setting addresses Bruce’s need for a quiet atmosphere while giving their children a lively and supportive home environment.
“Everything just feels a lot calmer, more at ease now,”
she said.
She emphasized the importance of meeting both her children’s and Bruce’s needs:
“We have two young children, and it was just important that they had a home that supported their needs and that Bruce could have a place that supported his needs,”
Heming Willis explained.
She also expressed gratitude for their ability to create this supportive setup, which has enriched Bruce’s experience and allowed her to reconnect with her role as his wife.
“It has opened up Bruce’s world,”
she shared, adding,
“I get to go back to being Bruce’s wife and the kids can be kids and there’s beauty in that and I’m so grateful for that.”
Addressing Public Responses to the Family’s Choice
After discussing the living arrangement on an ABC News special, Heming Willis faced both support and criticism. She took to Instagram on August 29 to confront the judgment she encountered head-on.
“What I knew is that by sharing some of our intimate information that we would see these two camps,”
she wrote.
“It would be people with an opinion versus people with an actual experience. That is what caregivers are up against … judgment from others and criticism from others.”
Heming Willis added that dementia varies greatly between households and that families must make decisions that best suit their unique circumstances.
“Dementia plays out differently in everyone’s home and you have to do what’s right for your family dynamic and what’s right for your person.”
Finding Strength and Meaning Amidst the Struggle
The Willis family first shared Bruce’s aphasia diagnosis in 2022, followed by the confirmation of FTD progression in 2023. For Heming Willis, receiving a clear diagnosis brought some relief and helped her accept the reality of Bruce’s condition.
“There was relief in understanding, ‘Oh, okay, this wasn’t my husband, it was that this disease was taking parts of his brain,’”
she recalled. I just softened.
Despite the ongoing sadness, Heming Willis has chosen to embrace moments of happiness where possible, guided by Bruce’s wishes for their family.
“While the grief and sadness and trauma is here all the time, I have learned it’s okay for me to also enjoy our life,”
she said.
“Bruce would want that for me and for our kids, to not wallow in the sadness of it, but also rise to it.”
