Bruce Willis' Wife Emma Heming Feeling "Grief and Sadness" on Actor's Birthday Amid His Health Battle

Bruce Willis' wife Emma Heming Willis is sharing an emotional message on her husband's birthday.

The Die Hard star turned 68 on March 19, a month after his family announced that he had been diagnosed with frontotemporal dementia, which can cause communication difficulties.

"Today is one of those days of feeling the grief and sadness," Emma wrote on Instagram. "But the silver lining or the flip side is that I'm so lucky to feel your warmth and love that is directed to my husband and our family. I see your messages, your stories that you share, and all I can say is thank you. Your connection helps me and I hope it helps you in a small way to know that I see you and I deeply understand your journey as well. #ftdawareness #griefshare #dementiaawareness #gratefullness"

Emma, 44, also included a video message in her post. "So today is my husband's birthday," she said in it. "I have started the morning by crying, as you can see by my swollen eyes and snotty nose. I just think it's important that you see all sides of this."

Emma said people always tell her that she's "so strong" and "I don't know how you do it." She added, "I'm not given a choice. I wish I was. But I'm also raising two kids in this, so sometimes in our lives, we have to put our big girl panties on and get to it. And that's what I'm doing."

Emma, who shares daughters Mabel, 10, and Evelyn, 8, with Bruce, continued, "But I do have times of sadness, every day. Grief, every day. And I'm really feeling it today on his birthday."

Bruce's updated diagnosis came less than a year after his family announced in a March 2022 statement that he was battling a similar ailment, aphasia, which was "impacting his cognitive abilities." They added that the star would be stepping away from his acting career.

Amid his health battle, Emma has occasionally shared heartwarming photos and videos of her husband with their family. She has also used her platform to raise awareness of dementia and advocate for the actor, who also shares daughters Rumer Willis, 34, Scout Willis, 31, and Tallulah Willis, 29, with ex-wife Demi Moore.

In her latest post, Emma explained why she chose to work on an Instagram reel for her husband's birthday. "I don't know why I do that to myself because the videos are like a knife in my heart," she said. "But as much as I do it for myself, I do it for you because I know how much you love my husband—don't cry, Emma—but it means so much to me. So thank you."