Bruce Willis’ wife talks about feeling sad and upset during the holidays

Bruce Willis’ wife, Emma Heming Willis, shares her honest insight into how difficult the holidays can be when dealing with a loved one facing health issues.

In a candid blog post shared on her website, the 47-year-old model detailed the pain that the holidays now bring since her husband was diagnosed with aphasia and frontotemporal dementia.

“Holidays have a way of holding up a mirror, reflecting who we have been, who we are, and what we imagined they would be,” Hemming Willis wrote over the weekend.

“When you care for someone with dementia, that reflection can be especially poignant. Traditions that once seemed a little simple require planning, a lot of planning,” she said. “Moments that once brought me uncomplicated joy can come tangled in a web of pain. I know because I’m living it.”

Hemming Willis added that while “holidays don’t disappear when dementia enters your life,” they do change, as Bruce was once “the center of everything.”

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“He loved this time of year: the energy, the family time, the traditions. He was the one making pancakes, the one going out in the snow with the kids, the constant presence that moved through the house as the day went on,” she shared.

Now he finds himself “harmlessly cursing Bruce’s name while wrestling with Christmas lights or taking on tasks that used to be his.”

“Not because I’m angry with him, never, but because I miss the way he once led the Christmas charge,” the author added. “Yes, he taught me well, but I can still feel upset because this is just another reminder of how things have changed. If you feel that mix of pity (and yes, annoyance), you’re not having a bad time on vacation.”

Amid the loss of “what was,” Heming Willis explained what the holidays will be like this year for his two young daughters, Mabel and Evelyn, who he shares with his husband.

“This holiday season, our family will still unwrap gifts and sit down together for breakfast. But instead of Bruce making our favorite pancakes, I’ll do it,” she said. “There will be laughter and hugs. And there will almost certainly be tears because we can cry and make room for joy. Joy does not cancel out sadness. Sadness does not cancel out joy. They coexist.”

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Heming Willis recently published a book about being a caregiver, called “The Unexpected Journey: Finding Strength, Hope, and Self on the Path of Caregiving.”

In it, she talked about all the ups and downs of her relationship with the “Die Hard” actor and how it has evolved with each of her diagnoses. She also offered advice to other caregivers who might find themselves in a similar unexpected situation, much like the one she had.

“Everyone will have an opinion, but you have to remember that most do not have the experience to back it up,” he writes in his book. “And if that’s the case, they shouldn’t offer their two cents about it, and you shouldn’t pay them any attention.”