Bruce Willis‘ wife Emma Hemming has shared a message about living with someone with dementia to mark the actor’s birthday.
Hemming, who has been documenting her daily life with Willis since it was revealed that the actor was diagnosed with frontotemporal dementia, took to Instagram Reels yesterday (March 19) to share more about grief and sadness.
“I have started the morning by crying as you can see by my swollen eyes,” she said. “I always get this message where people always tell me, ‘Oh you’re so strong. I don’t know how you do it.’ I’m not given a choice. I wish I was but I’m also raising two kids in this.”
Hemming concluded with the poignant insight that “sometimes in our lives, we have to put our big girl panties on and get to it, and that’s what I’m doing. But I do have times of sadness every day, grief every day and I’m really feeling it today on his birthday.”
Later that day, Hemming shared a video featuring moments from the couple’s life and marriage, soundtracked by Stevie Wonder‘s ‘As’. “He is pure love. He is so loved. And I’ll be loving him always. Happy Birthday my sweet,” she wrote.
“My birthday wish for Bruce is that you continue to keep him in your prayers and highest vibrations because his sensitive Pisces soul will feel it,” she added.
In February, Willis’ ex-wife Demi Moore revealed the actor’s aphasia diagnosis, which spurred his retirement from acting in early 2022, had progressed to frontotemporal dementia.
“FTD is a cruel disease that many of us have never heard of and can strike anyone,” Moore wrote in her statement, revealing that Willis was facing challenges with communication.
“Today there are no treatments for the disease, a reality that we hope can change in the years ahead. As Bruce’s condition advances, we hope that any media attention can be focused on shining a light on this disease that needs far more awareness and research,” she added.