It’s been more than two years since it was announced that Bruce Willis would be retiring from acting after a diagnosis of aphasia was revealed, which eventually progressed to frontal lobe dementia. In that time, Willis has largely remained out of the public eye, which has only intensified the focus on Willis’ family. His daughter Tallulah doesn’t mind the attention, even more so, she thinks it's important for her to embrace it.
Speaking with E!, the second daughter of Bruce Willis and Demi Moore talked about the experience of caring for her father. She says that dealing with the difficulties that come with caring for her father publicly is important because the public place the family holds allows them to help others. She explained…
We are in a very unique position where we have this platform. All of us do, all of us in our own ways have a voice and have eyes on us. I think it’s been ingrained into, I know for me especially, how can we use something that’s painful or challenging or a struggle and create awareness about it or find the thing that could be supportive or healing for other people?
Aphasia and dementia certainly aren't things that people often deal with in public, but they are things that a lot of families have to deal with at one time or another. For better or worse Bruce Willis’ family are the ones who are raising awareness and setting an example because this happened to a famous actor.
If the Willis family is setting an example for others, so far it looks like a good example. Tallulah says that the communication between her and her sisters has improved due to the family coming together around their father’s situation. Sister Rumor recently became a mother, and the family seems to be enjoying a great deal. They’re able to come to each other's aid and talk about what they need in ways they perhaps did not previously.
Willis’ wife and other members of his family have admitted that dealing with the actor’s dementia is far from easy. Still, everybody seems to be dealing with it as well as possible. It’s well understood that somebody suffering from dementia will deteriorate over time. The good news for Bruce Willis and his family and fans is that that hasn’t yet begun to happen, as Tallulah says her father’s condition has been consistent for some time…
It’s the same, which in this situation is a good thing.
The future for Bruce Willis is unclear, but fans can rest easy knowing that his family surrounds him. It seems like there’s nothing but love surrounding the actor, which is all any of us could hope for were we in similar situations, and if we were, at least we’d have the Willis family’s experience to help us all.
