Rumer Willis is reminiscing on her connection with her father, Bruce Willis, on Father’s Day, despite his Alzheimer’s diagnosis.
In a heartbreaking Instagram post on Sunday, June 15, the oldest daughter of the Die Hard star, 70, and Demi Moore, 62, expressed her love for her father and spoke up about the difficulties she finds in connecting with him in the same manner she did before his diagnosis.
Rumer, 36, opened her remark with the words “Today is hard” and included childhood images of herself and her father. “I have a tremendous desire to chat with you and tell you everything I’m doing and what’s going on in my life. To hug you and inquire about your life, tales, problems, and accomplishments.”
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“I wish I had asked you more questions while you could still tell me about it all,” she said later. “But I know you wouldn’t want me to be sad today, so I’ll try to just be grateful, reminding myself how lucky I am that you’re my dad and that you’re still with me and I can still hold you and hug you and kiss your cheek and rub your head and I can tell you stories.”
Rumer also mentioned being able to see Bruce’s eyes “light up” when he meets her two-year-old daughter, Louetta, whom she shares with her ex, Derek Richard Thomas.
“I will be grateful for every moment I have with you,” she said. “Happy Father’s Day, Dad. I love you very much. I am extending my heartfelt love to those who have lost their fathers, to single mothers who are also fathers, and to my future baby daddy.
The post included photos of Bruce and his eldest daughter standing on the beach together, Bruce holding her on his shoulders, and the two smiling together in a more recent black-and-white shot.
Bruce was diagnosed with frontotemporal dementia in 2022. The condition, also known as FTD, is the most frequent kind of dementia among persons under the age of 60, and there is no cure or therapy.
Aside from Rumer, the Sixth Sense actor’s family includes Scout LaRue Willis, 33, and Tallulah Belle Willis, 31, whom he shares with ex-wife Moore. His current wife, Emma Heming Willis, and his children, Mabel Ray Willis, 13, and Evelyn Penn Willis, 11, have spoken openly about the challenges of living with his sickness at such an early age.
Emma also dedicated an emotional message to her husband on Father’s Day, dedicating the day to fathers “living with disability or disease” on Instagram.
“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,” Emma captioned a photo of Bruce cuddling with one of his younger kids.
“I am really sad today. I wish with every cell in my body that things would be different for him and lighter for our family,” she wrote. “As our FTD community says, ‘It is what it is.'” And, while that may sound dismissive, I disagree. It helps me feel grounded. It allows me to accept what is and stop fighting it every step of the way, like I used to.
In May, Emma told PEOPLE that after her husband was diagnosed with frontotemporal dementia in 2022, she was given no guidance on what to do next.
“We received a diagnosis and were sent away with no hope, no guidance, no nothing, and I really had to figure out how to put resources into place,” Emma, our daughter, said. “I spent a lot of time searching the Internet to figure things out.”
The mother of two then took the effort to learn about Bruce’s health for herself, ultimately prioritizing everyone else’s needs before her own.
“I believe that was my demise. I thought that was what I was supposed to do,” she explained. “From all of this, I’ve learned that the caretaker is the most important person. We must care for the caregiver because only by caring for ourselves can we be present for the person we love.”