Bruce Willis’ wife Emma Heming Willis: Emotional words on their 17th anniversary

In good times and bad – that’s what Emma Heming Willis (46) swore to her husband Bruce Willis (69) at their wedding in 2009 and she’s keeping it. Because the entrepreneur is firmly at the side of the actor, who suffers from dementia. Certainly not an easy situation, as she once again revealed in an Instagram post on Sunday, December 29th.

On the anniversary of their relationship, the 46-year-old published a photo of the couple from good times: in the older vacation snapshot, both of them are beaming into the camera in swimwear in front of a romantic sunset. “17 years of us,” she wrote and then gave an insight into her emotions on this special occasion. “Anniversaries used to be exciting – now, if I’m honest, they stir up all the emotions, leaving a heaviness in my heart and a sinking feeling in my stomach.” She takes 30 minutes “to think about ‘why him, why us’, to feel the anger and sadness.”

But then she shakes off these thoughts “and returns to what is. And what is… is unconditional love.” She feels “blessed to know that, and I have him to thank for that.” That’s why she can conclude: “I would do it again and again in a heartbeat.”

Bruce Willis and Emma Heming Willis married in 2009. They have daughters Mabel (12) and Evelyn (10) together. He has three other daughters from his first marriage to actress Demi Moore (62) – Rumer (36), Scout (33) and Tallulah (30). In 2022, the whole family announced that the “Die Hard” hero had been diagnosed with the speech disorder aphasia and was retiring from acting. A year later, the more precise diagnosis was published: frontotemporal dementia, a progressive disease that leads to atrophy of the frontal and temporal lobes of the brain. This, in turn, can lead to speech problems, emotional problems and personality changes.

Since her diagnosis, Emma Heming Willis has spoken frequently about her experiences as a family and caregiver. In a message posted to her Instagram Stories in March 2023, she revealed that she “cried all morning” before her husband’s birthday. “I just think it’s important to see all sides of it. I always get this message or people always tell me, ‘Oh, you’re so strong. I don’t know how you do it.’ I don’t have a choice. I wish I had one, but I’m also raising two children.”