Emma Heming Willis is opening up about the emotional weight of Father's Day.
The wife of Bruce Willis, shared a touching message on Instagram Sunday, honoring not only her husband but also other dads "living with disability or disease."
Heming Willis, who shares daughters Mabel Ray and Evelyn Penn with the actor who was diagnosed with aphasia in 2022 and frontotemporal dementia (FTD) in 2023, posted a photo of Willis cuddling one of their girls, along with a moving caption.
"Happy Father's Day to all the dads living with disability or disease, showing up in the ways they can and to the children who show up for them," she wrote in the caption. "What Bruce teaches our girls goes far beyond words. Resilience, unconditional love, and the quiet strength in simply being present. This photo says so much. Love deepens. It adapts. It stays, even when everything else changes."
Heming Willis also reflected on the emotional complexity of the day.
Bruce Willis is a dad of 5: What to know about his family"But to be fair to myself, these symbolic days stir up a lot. I'm profoundly sad today. I wish, with every cell in my body, that things could be different for him and lighter for our family," she continued.
Referencing a phrase often used in the frontotemporal dementia (FTD) community, she added, "As they say in our FTD community, It is what it is.' And while that might sound dismissive, to me, it's not. It grounds me. It helps me return to the acceptance of what is and not fight this every step of the way like I used to."
Concluding the post, she wrote, "Today, let's celebrate the badass dads, those who are here, and those we carry with us 💙 Onward."
This isn't the first time Heming Willis has spoken publicly about the emotional realities of life since Willis' diagnosis.
Last December, she shared a throwback photo marking the anniversary of their relationship, opening up about how those milestones have changed.
"17 years of us ♥️," she wrote at the time. "Anniversaries used to bring excitement -- now, if I'm honest, they stir up all the feelings, leaving a heaviness in my heart and a pit in my stomach."
"I give myself 30 minutes to sit in the 'why him, why us,' to feel the anger and grief," she continued. "Then I shake it off and return to what is. And what is… is unconditional love."
"I feel blessed to know it, and it's because of him," she said. "I'd do it all over again and again in a heartbeat 💞."
In addition to the two daughters he shares with Heming Willis, Willis is also a father to Rumer, Scout and Tallulah, whom he shares with ex-wife Demi Moore.
Heming Willis is currently working on a book about caregiving, set to be released in 2025.
