The 'Die Hard' actor turned 68 on Sunday, and was diagnosed with frontotemporal dementia in February.
Emma Heming is opening up about feeling sadness on what should be a special day for Bruce Willis. On Sunday, Heming shared a message on the actor's first birthday since his frontotemporal dementia diagnosis.
"Today is one of those days of feeling the grief and sadness. 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," the model wrote.
In a video, Heming got candid about her husband's 68th birthday, and why she feels grief and sadness, amid his battle with his dementia.
"Today is my husband's birthday. 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," the 44-year-old told the camera.
"I always get this message or people always tell me, 'Oh, you're so strong. I don't know how you do it.' I'm not given a choice. I wish I was, but I'm also raising two kids in this."
Heming, who shares daughters Evelyn, 8, and Mabel, 10, continued by noting that she has to be strong, despite her sadness.
"Sometimes in our lives, we have to put our big girl panties on and get to it. And that's what I'm doing," she said. "But I do have times of sadness, every day, grief every day, and I'm really feeling it today on his birthday."
Heming revealed that she is working on an Instagram reel for her husband, in honor of his birthday and it has been really hard.
"I worked on this reel that I'm posting for my husband's birthday. I don't know why I do that to myself because the videos are like a knife in my heart," Emma shared. "But as much as I do it for myself I do it for you because I know how much you love my husband.
She added while reminding herself "Don't cry, Emma."
But it means so much to me, so thank you."
So far, Willis' oldest daughters nor his ex-wife have yet to post about his birthday on their respective social media accounts.
Heming's post comes almost two weeks after she hit back at trolls accusing her of using her husband's diagnosis for five minutes of fame.
In February, Heming shared that Willis was diagnosed with frontotemporal dementia, nearly a year after revealing that the actor was struggling with aphasia, a condition that affects communication.
Dr. Allison Reiss, an Alzheimer's Foundation of America's Medical, Scientific and Memory Screening Advisory Board Member, broke down Willis' condition with ET, who explained frontotemporal dementia as a "neurodegeneration."
RELATED CONTENT:
