Emma Heming Willis opened up about her life as a “care partner” to her husband, legendary actor Bruce Willis, as the family cope with his dementia diagnosis.
“I don’t want it to be misconstrued that I’m good, because I’m not,” Emma said in an emotional video shared on Instagram. “I’m not good.”
The former model, 45, called on her followers and fellow care partners to send her pictures of their day, after she posted a snap of herself enjoying a solo hike.
“I just think it’s so important for us to break up our thinking, which can feel – for me – very much like doom and gloom,” she said: “I know it looks like I’m out living my best life. But 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,” she continued, before adding that she believes her husband would not want her “to live any other way.”
Emma admitted that she finds it tough to put her “best foot forward” sometimes, but that she knows if she’s not taking care of herself, her caring duties towards Bruce will become harder and harder.
“It does not come to me easily,” she said. “But I am just doing the best that I can.”
Emma called on her fellow care partners to take a step back from their “stressful” and “hard” days to take a moment for themselves.
“Just look for something beautiful,” she finished, before joking in the caption that she hoped fans could take her seriously despite her “dopey hat.”
In the comment section, her followers rushed to support her and share their own experiences.
“You are a wise woman, Emma. My brother has Alzheimer’s and it is a daunting job. If you do not take care of yourself, you will not be able to care for anyone else,” one fan wrote, while another lamented the fact they didn’t heed the advice when they would have needed to: “I wish I had taken the time to do that when my partner was dying, but it was so hard. I didn’t have a support system and I was doing everything by myself and I was constantly alone.”
Bruce’s family announced that he had been diagnosed with a type of dementia in February 2023, a year after it emerged that he had been suffering from Aphasia, a condition that affects how people communicate.
At the time, he revealed that he was planning to retire from acting for good as a result of his diagnosis.
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