Bruce Willis’s family shares how they find joy this Christmas despite his dementia

Emma Heming Willis is approaching the holiday season with a quiet mix of love and resilience, as her husband, Bruce Willis, continues to live with frontotemporal dementia. While life no longer looks the way it once did, his family is finding new meaning in the moments they still share together.

“It’s joyous. It’s just different,” Heming Willis, 47, told People at the End Well 2025 conference in Los Angeles. “Bruce loved Christmas and we love celebrating it with him. It just looks different, so we’ve adapted.”

Willis, 70, stepped away from acting in 2022 after being diagnosed with aphasia. His family later revealed that his condition had progressed to frontotemporal dementia. Since then, Heming Willis has become an outspoken advocate for greater awareness around the disease, sharing her experiences publicly and in her book, The Unexpected Journey: Finding Strength, Hope, and Yourself on the Caregiving Path.

She acknowledged that the holidays can be especially difficult for families affected by dementia, but stressed the importance of holding on to moments of joy. “You have to learn and adapt and make new memories,” she said. “Life goes on. Dementia is hard, but there is still joy in it.”

Willis’s eldest daughter, Rumer Willis, echoed that sentiment while answering questions from fans on Instagram. The 37-year-old said her father is “doing OK”, adding that even when recognition is uncertain, the emotional connection remains.

“I’m so grateful that when I go over there and give him a hug, whether he recognises me or not, he can feel the love,” she said. “I still see a spark of him.”

Willis now lives in a nearby residence where he receives round-the-clock care, a decision Heming Willis has said was necessary for the family’s safety and wellbeing. She noted that life has since found a new rhythm.

He shares three adult daughters, Rumer, Scout and Tallulah, with his ex-wife Demi Moore, and two younger daughters, Mabel and Evelyn, with Heming Willis. Moore has previously described him as being in a “very stable place” and said it is important to meet people with dementia where they are.