A whole family’s reality changed when Bruce Willis was diagnosed with frontotemporal dementia (FTD). Willis retired from acting, and his family has taken to addressing his needs each day. His daughter, Tallulah, says that the family takes things one day at a time with Willis and adjust to what he needs at each particular moment.
69-year-old Willis is a father of five from across two marriages. With Demi Moore, he has daughters Tallulah, Rumer, and Scout. He shares Evelyn and Mabel with Emma Heming, who he married in 2009. His whole blended family has taken to helping Willis since his retirement in 2022 following an aphasia diagnosis that led to FTD the following year.
Tallulah Willis describes a day with her dad Bruce and how the family adjusts to his needs
These days, Tallulah maintains a packed schedule. But she always tries to set aside time for her father. “I’ll go visit my dad and spend some time with him,” shared Tallulah. However, that comes with some necessary mental preparation.
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Specifically, she needs “to go into it open to what the visit is, and knowing that before I go in, I’m solid. I’m okay,” adding, “I’ve done what I need to do to make sure that I can just be present.”
So far, Tallulah assured me that Willis is maintaining a kind of baseline to relieve his family. She describes his current status as “doing the same in terms of the last we kind of updated, which I’m told is good. But whatever kind of day it is, my family and I meet him where he’s at.”
They also need to take care of themselves
When she’s not spending time with Willis and the family, Tallulah is hard at work collaborating with luxury silk brand Kumi Kookoon to create her collection, Kumi KøøBuu. Tallulah, who was recently diagnosed with autism, was particularly enthusiastic about the weighted blankets. “And as I’m learning more about my autism and my sensory stuff, there is something very safe and special about that weighted feeling,” she explained.
The project has kept her very busy, and so she is very grateful for downtime with her boyfriend, even when they’re not doing anything more than lounging in silence. Tallulah explained that “whether it be work or not, I do need downtime,” adding, “So there is a lot of what my partner and I say, we’re ‘going nonverbal,’ and we just sit on the couch like, ‘I love you. There’s no issue. I just can’t speak right now.'”
46-year-old Emma Heming is dealing with a great emotional burden that needs tending. The mother-of-two is balancing raising two young daughters and being Willis’s supportive spouse. A source told People, “She is trying to make as many positive memories for them as she can,” adding, “She wants them to remember Bruce as an amazing, fun dad. She wants them to have the best memories of him.”
