Demi Moore ‘Preparing Herself’ for ‘Emotional Goodbye’ to Bruce Willis Amid His Battle With Dementia

Even faced with a dire health crisis, Bruce Willis has remained a wonderful dad. Last Father’s Day, Emma Heming praised her husband — who in 2022 learned he had aphasia, a neurological issue that robs a person of the ability to communicate, and in 2023 was diagnosed with a form of dementia — as she watched him with their daughters, Mabel, 12, and Evelyn, 9. 

“While it might not be ‘conventional,’ what he’s teaching them will span generations,” Emma wrote on Instagram. “Unconditional love, kindness, strength, compassion, patience, generosity, resilience.”

The girls aren’t the only ones learning from Bruce. Nearly 26 years after their split, the Die Hard actor’s first wife, Demi Moore, has been reflecting on their shared past as she, Emma, 45, and Bruce’s children prepare for the inevitable.

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“When you let go of who they’ve been or who you think they [should be], or who even you would like them to be, you can then really stay in the present and take in the joy and the love that is present,” Demi says of how she’s been coping as the Bruce she knew slips away. 

Says a source: “Bruce has given Demi a new outlook on life. She’s feeling extremely grateful and emotional. She’s been going over her life with him and is thankful for all the things they’ve been through.”

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Though Bruce, 69, has been losing his ability to communicate and recognize people — including Demi, 61, an insider confirms to In Touch — witnessing his decline has come with some unexpected insight. 

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“Seeing him go through his struggles has shown Demi how to be a fighter. It’s so bittersweet, but also inspiring,” says the source. “She admires Bruce so much, and she’s preparing herself for their emotional goodbye.” 

She’s also reminiscing about how he “let their daughters [Rumer, 35, Scout, 32, and Tallulah, 30,] be who they wanted to be” and how he always wanted Demi to realize that “inner beauty and confidence come from within” as she worked through eating disorders and childhood trauma.

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But she’s not romanticizing their past. In her 2019 memoir, Demi painted Bruce as controlling, unhappy with her decision to work when their kids were young, and a man more committed to being a dad than a husband during their 13-year marriage. Those memories still hold true, says the source, but she also marvels at how they forged a deep and lasting friendship that has left them, as she’s said, “more connected than we were before the divorce.”