Bruce Willis' wife Emma celebrates couple's anniversary amid actor's dementia battle
- - Bruce Willis' wife Emma celebrates couple's anniversary amid actor's dementia battle
Mekishana PierreJanuary 1, 2026 at 1:59 AM
0
Jamie McCarthy/Getty
Bruce Willis and Emma Heming Willis on Jan. 15, 2019
Emma Heming Willis marked a very sweet milestone with her husband and father of her children, Bruce Willis.
On Tuesday, the model and actress took to Instagram to celebrate the anniversary of her and Bruce making it "official." Sharing a candid photo of them from that special time nearly 20 years ago, Emma captioned the post, "18 years ago, he became my boyfriend. With one kiss on the top of my head, time stood still."
She added, "I'm so lucky to know this kind of love."
Emma, 47, and the Die Hard actor, 70, who starred in the films Red 2 and Perfect Stranger together, have been married since 2009. The couple shares two children together: Mabel Ray Willis, whom they welcomed in April 2012, and Evelyn Penn Willis, who was born in May 2014.
Emma Heming Willis/Instagram
Bruce, Mabel, Evelyn, and Emma Willis
Bruce is also dad to daughters Tallulah, Scout, and Rumer with ex-wife Demi Moore, whom he was married to from 1987 to 2000, but remain close.
The actor's family has been transparent about the highs and lows of his health since his aphasia diagnosis in 2022, which progressed to a frontotemporal dementia diagnosis in 2023.
Emma in particular has spread awareness about FTD on social media and in interviews. She published a book in September, The Unexpected Journey: Finding Strength, Hope, and Yourself on the Caregiving Path, intended to serve as a "supportive guide" for caregivers navigating a loved one's dementia diagnosis.
The mother of two has assumed the role of caretaker of her husband alongside a 24-hour health team that aids the ailing actor, resulting in her living separately in a second home with their daughters.
Get your daily dose of entertainment news, celebrity updates, and what to watch with our EW Dispatch newsletter.
Emma has often taken to social media to share her experiences as Bruce's caregiver, and faced intense scrutiny of her motives while doing so. In September, she defended herself in a video shared to her Instagram, saying, "Everyone will have an opinion, but you have to remind yourself that most don't have the experience to back it up... And if that's the case, they shouldn't offer their two cents about it, and you shouldn't pay them any mind."
During the ABC special Emma & Bruce Willis: The Unexpected Journey, which aired over the summer, Emma shared that although Bruce is in "really great health overall," his brain "is failing him."
Bruce Glikas/FilmMagic
Emma Heming Willis, Rumer Willis, Bruce Willis, Tallulah Belle Willis, Demi Moore, and Scout LaRue Willis
"The language is going, and, you know, we've learned to adapt," she told Diane Sawyer. "And we have a way of communicating with him, which is just a... different way."
Emma shared that there are moments when she will see a glimmer of his personality shine through and be instantly taken back to a time before his diagnosis. "Not days, but we get moments," she said. "It's his laugh, right? Like, he has such a hearty laugh. And, you know, sometimes you'll see that twinkle in his eye, or that smirk, and, you know, I just get, like, transported."
She appeared visibly emotional as she continued, "And it's just hard to see, because as quickly as those moments appear, then it goes. It's hard. But I'm grateful. I'm grateful that my husband is still very much here."
on Entertainment Weekly
Source: “AOL Entertainment”
