Bruce Willis’ wife Emma Hemming candidly reflects on her grief while dealing with dementia during the holidays.
In a blog post, Ms Hemming admitted that holidays “look different now”. She pointed out that celebrating now requires a lot of planning, but she didn’t need to plan before she was diagnosed with dementia.
“Moments that once brought simple joy may come tangled in a web of sadness,” she wrote. “I know it because I live it.”
“I’ve learned that having dementia doesn’t make your holidays disappear; your holidays change,” she added.
Willis, a mother of two, recalled how she celebrated the holidays with enthusiasm before battling frontotemporal dementia (FTD) and primary progressive aphasia (PPA).
“He loved this time of year, the energy, the family time, the traditions,” she said. “He was the one who made pancakes, the one who went out in the snow with the kids, and the steady presence that moved around the house as the day progressed.”
“Dementia doesn’t erase those memories,” she continued. “But it creates a space between then and now. And that space can be painful.”
She mentioned that the “Die Hard” actor is no longer able to do what he used to.
“I found myself harmlessly cursing Bruce’s name while wrestling with Christmas lights and taking on tasks that used to be Bruce’s,” she admitted. “Not because I’m mad at him, never have I been, but because I miss him when he used to lead the holiday assault squad.”
“Yes, he has taught me well, but I’m still allowed to be frustrated when this is another reminder of how things have changed,” she continued.
She encouraged her followers who are facing the same challenges to embrace change and try to make new memories.
“This holiday season, our family will be unwrapping presents and having breakfast together. But instead of making Bruce’s favorite pancakes, I’ll be making them,” she wrote.
“We’ll be showing holiday movies. There will be laughter and hugs,” she continued. “And there will almost certainly be tears because we can make room for sadness, for joy.”
“Joy does not cancel out sadness. Sadness does not cancel out joy. They coexist.”
Hemming, 47, echoed those sentiments in an interview with People last month when she talked about how she and Willis, 70, celebrate Christmas.
“Bruce loved Christmas, and we love celebrating Christmas with him,” she said, referring to one of his famous films.
“I think it’s important to play ‘Die Hard’ because it’s a Christmas movie,” she joked.
