Emma Heming Willis is caring for husband Bruce Willis amid his dementia battle, and she’s shining a light on the struggles caretakers face.
“I’m asking care partners to send me photos [of beautiful things or moments] because I just think it’s so important for us to sort of break up our thinking, which can feel, for me, very much like doom and gloom,” Heming Willis, 45, told Instagram followers in a video on Monday, August 14. “So I know it looks like I’m out living my best life. I have to make a conscious effort every single day to live the best life that I can. I do that for myself. I do that for our two children and Bruce, who would not want me to live any other way.”
Heming Willis explained that while she tries to keep her social media posts upbeat, she doesn’t want anyone to think that she’s totally fine while Willis, 68, struggles with his frontotemporal dementia diagnosis.
“I don’t want it to be misconstrued that, like, I’m good — because I’m not. I’m not good, but I have to put my best foot forward for the sake of myself and my family,” she emphasized. “When we are not looking after ourselves, we cannot look after anyone that we love. So it’s really important and like I said, this is a conscious effort. It does not come to me easily, but I am just doing the best that I can always.”
She captioned the video with a clear “PSA” to her fellow caretakers: “When we are not looking after ourselves, we are no good to the people we love who we want to show up for and take care of. I don’t have this down to a fine science either, but I try. It’s an affirmation I use daily so it’s kept in the forefront of my mind.”
Heming Willis and the Golden Globe winner, who tied the knot in March 2009, share daughters Mabel, 11, and Evelyn, 9. Willis also shares daughters Rumer, 34, Scout, 32, and Tallulah Willis, 29, with ex-wife Demi Moore.
Moore, Heming Willis, and their daughters announced in March 2022 that the Die Hard actor was stepping back from the spotlight amid his diagnosis. “We are moving through this as a strong family unit, and wanted to bring his fans in because we know how much he means to you, as you do to him,” the statement read, in part.
The message concluded, “As Bruce always says, ‘Live it up’ and together we plan to do just that.”
Since taking his dementia battle public, Heming Willis has been open about struggling to balance caring for her husband and children while also making time for self-care.
“Someone told me not long ago that when you over-care for someone, you end up under-caring for yourself,” she wrote via her Instagram Story in June 2022. “When you put everyone’s needs above your own, no one wins. I don’t do this perfectly but I really am trying so I can be the best I can be for the people I love and adore.”
