As Bruce Willis turned another year older, his wife, Emma Heming Willis, took to social media to express her love and admiration for him amidst their ongoing journey with his diagnosis of frontotemporal dementia (FTD).
Emma shared a heartfelt throwback photo on Instagram depicting Bruce holding one of their children. The photo was accompanied by a touching caption that highlighted the deep affection and sense of safety she feels in his arms.
"Just like you, we simply adore him. What you might not know, but maybe you could imagine, that being wrapped in his arms is the safest place in this whole wide world," she captioned the sweet photo. "He’s a true gentle-man. With so much love to give and share. That’s what I get to see, his true core. I can tell you, it’s so pure and ever so good."
She ended the caption, "Happy Birthday my love. You are the gift that keeps giving 💞”
The post comes after Emma's frustration over recent "clickbait" articles misrepresenting Bruce's condition and their family life. In a candid video shared earlier this month, Emma addressed the misinformation surrounding Bruce's diagnosis, emphasizing that despite the diagnosis, Bruce continues to bring joy and love to their lives.
Emma's video is in reference to her husband's February 2023 diagnosis with frontotemporal dementia (FTD) -- a condition connected to dementia that primarily affects the frontal and temporal lobes of the brain and impacts a personality's personality, behavior and language, according to Mayo Clinic.
In the year since Bruce's diagnosis, Emma -- as well as Bruce's older children -- have spent much of their time using their platforms to bring awareness to the condition and to debunk common misconceptions about FTD.
"I need society -- and whoever's writing these stupid headlines -- to stop scaring people. Stop scaring people to think that once they get a diagnosis of some kind of neurocognitive disease that -- that's it. 'It's over. Let's pack it up. We're -- Nothing else to see here. We're done.' No," Emma continued in her video.
"There is grief and sadness. There's all of that. But you start a new chapter," she noted.
For the couple -- who wed in 2009 and share daughters Mabel Ray, 11, and Evelyn Penn, 9 -- this chapter of their life is also filled "with love, it's filled with connection, it's filled with joy, it's filled with happiness." Bruce also shares Rumer, Scout and Tallulah Willis with his ex-wife, Demi Moore.
Emma has previously spoken out about some of the more strenuous parts of her husband's health issues, including the guilt she experiences when seeking out alone time as a mother and her husband's full-time caretaker, as well as the idea that it's unclear if Bruce is fully aware of his condition.
In her new post, the mom of two also took the opportunity to urge media outlets covering her husband's diagnosis and the issue as a whole to exercise sensitivity and obtain a deeper understanding of FTD and all facets, including the good and the bad.
"My experience is that two things can be true and exist at the same time. Grief and deep love. Sadness and deep connection. Trauma and resilience. I had to get out of my own way to get here but once I arrived, life really started to come together with meaning and I had a true sense of purpose. There is so much beauty and soulfulness in this story," Heming wrote in the caption.
"Here's what I've come to understand is that we are being educated by the wrong people. People that have an opinion versus an experience. People that have not taken the time to properly educate themselves on any kind of neurocognitive disease. Why can I be so bold and say that? Because I see headline after headline and blurbs of misinformation," she continued.
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