Bruce Willis’ wife Emma Heming recalls a delicate explanation to her two young daughters why the ailing actor had to move to another house amid his debilitating dementia battle.
“We’ve come to the point of Daddy’s illness, where the care he needs is changing, and it has to be adjusted by all his needs,” I told them,” she writes in her new book.
The two moms who share Willis and Mabel (13) and 11-year-old Evelyn say they told the girls why having an “Armageddon” star in their space is also advantageous for them.
“Daddy would want you to have more playdate, sleepovers and more freedom than you’re here. It would make him so happy,” she added.
Hemming, 49, reassures his daughters that he is always welcomed at his father’s place, not only “can maintain personal things like toys, arts and crafts, swimsuits, PJs, games and more”, but he is “always with him.”
The authors write that Mabel and Evelyn “understand” that the decision was for Willis’ “overall happiness and safety,” but the entire ordeal was still “a painful time” for them.
“In fact, it’s still painful for me,” she further admits. “After all, this was my husband and putting him in another house wasn’t part of the future we mapped together. You can’t really dream of something like this.”
Heming first revealed that 70-year-old Willis will be living separately from her in an interview with ABC News that aired last month.
“He wanted them to be in a home that suited their needs, not his needs,” she told Diane Sawyer, a journalist at the time.
However, Heming, who has been married to Willis since 2009, met backlash after the segment aired, forcing her to applause.
“But if they don’t have this experience, they won’t get a comment. And they definitely won’t get a vote…and that’s what caregivers are opposed. Judgment from others and criticism from others.”
In 2022, Willis’ family announced that the “Die Hard” star would be leaving the acting after being diagnosed with aphasia.
The doctors then discovered that he actually had frontotemporal dementia. This is a disease that affects a person’s speech, personality, and behavior and has no cure.
Heming recently shared that her husband has lost his speech, but the family said, “There are ways to communicate with him.
