Rumer Willis Shares Heartbreaking Post Amid Dad Bruce Willis’ Dementia Battle
Rumer Willis shared a heartbreaking post on Instagram on Monday, November 20, which included a sweet photo of her as a baby with her dad, Bruce Willis, who was diagnosed with dementia in 2022.
“Really missing my papa today,” Rumer wrote in a caption alongside the image, which shows a shirtless Bruce holding his young daughter in his arms.
Some commenters initially thought the post meant Bruce had passed away, but, as others pointed it, Rumer’s words were in reference to the dementia diagnosis.
“With dementia, grief begins so much earlier and lasts longer because you start grieving the loss before they are physically gone,” wrote one Instagram commenter, while another added, “Anticipatory grief is so difficult to process at times. I’m sorry.”
View this post on Instagram
In February, Bruce was diagnosed with frontotemporal dementia just one year after he was first diagnosed with aphasia. According to the Alzheimer’s Association, “the nerve cell damage caused by frontotemporal dementia leads to loss of function in these brain regions, which variably cause deterioration in behavior, personality and/or difficulty with producing or comprehending language.”
The news of Bruce’s diagnosis was first revealed in a joint statement from the family, including his wife, Emma Heming Willis, and their two daughters, Maybel Ray and Evelyn Penn, as well as his ex-wife, Demi Moore, and their three daughters, Rumer, Scout, and Tallulah.
Rumer Willis, Demi Moore, Bruce Willis, Scout Willis, Emma Heming Willis, and Tallulah Willis; Stefanie Keenan/Getty Images for goop
Earlier this month, Heming Willis penned a personal essay for Maria Shriver’s Sunday Paper, where she opened up about her husband’s disorder and the effect it’s had on the family.
“In the weeks leading up to our February 2023 announcement that Bruce was living with frontotemporal dementia, I struggled with whether and how to come forward with this difficult chapter in our story,” Heming Willis wrote.
“Yet after our family shared the news, I felt like I could breathe. Suddenly, I wasn’t alone anymore and I could seek the support Bruce, myself, and our family so desperately needed,” she added.
Emma Heming, Rumer Willis, Tallulah Willis, Bruce Willis and Scout Willis; Neilson Barnard/Getty Images For Comedy Central
“As hard as it was to come forward about Bruce’s FTD diagnosis, I knew I needed to raise my voice to bring awareness to this disease,” she continued, noting that “the world needs to know that not all dementia is Alzheimer’s and that not all dementia impacts memory.”
Heming Willis also said she struggles with “guilt,” knowing that she has “resources that others don’t.”
“When I’m able to get out for a hike to clear my head, it’s not lost on me that not all care partners can do that. When what I share about our family’s journey gets press attention, I know that there are many thousands of untold, unheard stories, each of them deserving of compassion and concern,” she shared.
But she said that sharing her family’s story “matters to others who may be struggling” and “in a small way makes them feel seen and understood.”
“I have so much more hope today than I did after Bruce was first diagnosed,” she continued. “I understand this disease more now, and I’m now connected to an incredible community of support. I have hope in having found a new purpose… using the spotlight to help and empower others. And I have hope in how our entire family can find joy in the small things and in coming together to celebrate all the moments life has to offer.”
