Photo: Instagram
Caregiving for a sick loved one effects every member of the family, even young kids.
By Alexandra Blogier — Written on May 23, 2023
Actor Bruce Willis has been living with a diagnosis of frontotemporal dementia since February 2023 and his family has rallied around him to make sure he’s lovingly supported as he battles the disease.
His care team is headed by his current wife, Emma Heming Willis, along with support from Willis’ ex-wife, Demi Moore, and their three grown daughters, Rumer, 34, Scout, 31, and Tallulah, 29. Yet one of Willis’ younger daughters, who he shares with Heming Willis, had advice on how to take care of her dad, which she told her mom in a bittersweet moment.
Emma Heming Willis shared her 9-year-old daughter Evelyn’s ‘loving and compassionate’ tip for caring for a loved one with dementia.
“So, I have to tell you this story, and I’m going to try and do it without crying because when Evelyn told me this story, I was an absolute puddle,” Heming Willis posted on Instagram.
She relayed a moment she shared with her elementary-school-aged daughter Evelyn, who offered her mom advice on how to take care of her dad amidst Willis’ heartbreaking dementia diagnosis.
The 9-year-old shared research she’d done on dementia with her mom, in order to care for dad Bruce Willis.
Hemings Willis started, “So Evelyn says to me the other day, ‘Did you know that people with dementia can become severely dehydrated?’ And I said, ‘Oh, I didn’t know that, but how do you know that?’ And she says, ‘Well I was at school the other day, and I had some free time, and I was looking up fun facts about dementia.’ Now, that’s not funny, but it’s kind of funny.”
Hemings Willis was able to recognize a moment of tender humanity in her daughter’s desire to learn more about the disease her dad suffers from. She explained that Evelyn “really is her father’s child, because these two love some just random facts.”
She reassured her daughter that they will “always make sure that Daddy has a bottle of water in hand.”
Photo: Featureflash Photo Agency / Shutterstock
Hemings Willis told her daughter that showing concern for her dad is “the most loving and compassionate thing that you can do... to be curious and educate yourself on your dad’s disease.”
“It really is one of the most loving and compassionate things that we can do as caregivers, as friends, family, is to educate ourselves about our loved ones’ disease, so we can best show up for them and support them in the best way possible,” Hemings Willis explained. “So, keep educating yourself, stay curious, and remember to hydrate your loved ones.”
Willis reposted a conversation she shared with Adria Thomas, who said “For anyone listening, on behalf of the person you’re caring for that has dementia, whether they can express it or not, I want to say ‘thank you.’”
“Thank you for loving them,” Thomas stated. “Thank you for spending time to educate yourself about dementia, because that is the most compassionate thing you can do. By having more insight into their world and the life that they’re experiencing that they can’t always express, that is just the most loving thing you can possibly do… it’s not easy and you’re not alone.”
Providing care and support for someone who’s sick is no easy task, one that comes with its own emotional challenges and burdens. Yet as Hemings Willis and her daughter know, the best thing they can do for their family is to stay informed and enter that caregiving role with empathy and compassion.
Alexandra Blogier is a writer on YourTango's news and entertainment team. She covers celebrity gossip, pop culture analysis and all things to do with the entertainment industry.