Current:Home > ScamsBruce Willis’ Daughter Tallulah Shares Emotional Details of His “Decline” With Dementia-Angel Dreamer Wealth Society D1 Reviews & Insights
Bruce Willis’ Daughter Tallulah Shares Emotional Details of His “Decline” With Dementia
View Date:2024-12-24 20:57:40
Tallulah Willis is reflecting on her dad Bruce Willis' heartbreaking health battle.
Nearly four months after the actor's family shared his frontotemporal dementia diagnosis, his 29-year-old daughter detailed the emotional journey. In a personal essay for Vogue, Tallulah noted that though her dad's health update was confirmed earlier this year, she had "known that something was wrong for a long time."
"It started out with a kind of vague unresponsiveness," she explained in the piece published May 31, "which the family chalked up to Hollywood hearing loss."
Tallulah shared that she sometimes took this behavior personally, in part due to the Die Hard star—who also shares kids Rumer, 33, Scout, 30 with ex Demi Moore and is dad to Mabel, 10, and Evelyn, 8 with wife Emma Heming Willis—expanding his family. But she was also facing heath battles of her own.
"I admit that I have met Bruce's decline in recent years with a share of avoidance and denial that I'm not proud of," she continued. "The truth is that I was too sick myself to handle it."
Tallulah went on to share her four-year battle with anorexia, as well as her ADHD diagnosis, which came amid her seeking treatment for depression.
"While I was wrapped up in my body dysmorphia, flaunting it on Instagram, my dad was quietly struggling," she added. "All kinds of cognitive testing was being conducted, but we didn't have an acronym yet. I had managed to give my central dad-feeling canal an epidural; the good feelings weren't really there, the bad feelings weren't really there."
Then came a pivotal moment.
"I was at a wedding in the summer of 2021 on Martha's Vineyard, and the bride's father made a moving speech," the Whole Nine Yards actress shared. "Suddenly I realized that I would never get that moment, my dad speaking about me in adulthood at my wedding. It was devastating. I left the dinner table, stepped outside, and wept in the bushes."
As Tallulah explained, she's realized that this time serves as "the beginning of grief," but added that she's finding comfort in living in the moment.
"Every time I go to my dad's house, I take tons of photos—of whatever I see, the state of things," she explained. "I'm like an archaeologist, searching for treasure in stuff that I never used to pay much attention to. I have every voicemail from him saved on a hard drive. I find that I'm trying to document, to build a record for the day when he isn't there to remind me of him and of us."
Sharing that the Sixth Sense star "still knows who I am and lights up when I enter the room," Tallulah said that she's still grappling with remembering the past while thinking of the present.
"That's because I have hopes for my father that I'm so reluctant to let go of," she explained. "I've always recognized elements of his personality in me, and I just know that we'd be such good friends if only there were more time. He was cool and charming and slick and stylish and sweet and a little wacky—and I embrace all that."
For the latest breaking news updates, click here to download the E! News AppveryGood! (822)
Related
- Up to 20 human skulls found in man's discarded bags, home in New Mexico
- Authorities search for F-35 jet after 'mishap' near South Carolina base; pilot safely ejected
- Two pilots were killed in a midair collision on the last day of Nevada air races
- Bodies of 5 Greek military personnel killed in Libya flooding rescue effort are flown home
- Homes of Patrick Mahomes, Travis Kelce burglarized, per reports
- 'The Care and Keeping of You,' American Girl's guide to puberty, turns 25
- Do air purifiers work? Here's what they do, and an analysis of risks versus benefits
- Bodies of 5 Greek military personnel killed in Libya flooding rescue effort are flown home
- Republican Vos reelected as Wisconsin Assembly speaker despite losing seats, fights with Trump
- Nicole Kidman and Tom Cruise's Daughter Bella Celebrates the End of Summer With Rare Selfie
Ranking
- Jimmy Kimmel, more late-night hosts 'shocked' by Trump Cabinet picks: 'Goblins and weirdos'
- Speaker McCarthy running out of options to stop a shutdown as conservatives balk at new plan
- The Talk and Jennifer Hudson Show Delay Premieres Amid Union Strikes
- All 9 juveniles recaptured after escape from Pennsylvania detention center, police say
- Ashton Jeanty stats: How many rushing yards did Boise State Heisman hopeful have vs Nevada
- Republican legislatures flex muscles to maintain power in two closely divided states
- 2 adults, 2 children found shot to death in suburban Chicago home
- Two pilots were killed in a midair collision on the last day of Nevada air races
Recommendation
-
Halle Berry Rocks Sheer Dress She Wore to 2002 Oscars 22 Years Later
-
Man trapped in vehicle rescued by strangers in New Hampshire woods
-
Hearings in $1 billion lawsuit filed by auto tycoon Carlos Ghosn against Nissan starts in Beirut
-
How Kelly Rizzo's Full House of Support Helped Her After Husband Bob Saget's Death
-
Fantasy football waiver wire: 10 players to add for NFL Week 11
-
Jann Wenner removed from board of Rock and Roll Hall of Fame over comments deemed racist, sexist
-
Horoscopes Today, September 17, 2023
-
Israel criticizes UN vote to list ruins near ancient Jericho as World Heritage Site in Palestine