She wants other families handling dementia to feel supported and seen.
Tallulah Willis is giving fans an update on her father Bruce Willis’s dementia diagnosis, saying that it’s important for her and her family to keep the public aware and to share as much as they can as they navigate his frontotemporal dementia. During an appearance on The Drew Barrymore Show, Tallulah said that right now, her father’s health isn’t deteriorating, which is great news for everyone, but adds that nobody is sure how the disorder will progress.
Tallulah added that as the family has learned more and more about Bruce's dementia, everyone is going through his life and remembering things about him that they'd forgotten, like a sort of archeological dig through his career and home life.
"We had no idea, and again, it’s like the bigger version of what I’m trying to do, if we can take something that we’re struggling with as a family to help other people, to turn it around to make something beautiful about it, that’s really special for us," Tallulah told Barrymore. "And part of what’s been a really beautiful way for me to heal through this is becoming like an archeologist to my dad’s world, to his little trinkets and doo-dads."
Tallulah also emphasized the need to share everything they learn, saying that there's so little information about frontotemporal dementia that she and her family want anyone else dealing with it to feel supported.
"Well I think it’s twofold," she said. "On one hand, it’s who we are as a family, but also it’s really important for us to spread awareness."
Bruce Willis’s Wife Emma Says His Dementia Is Teaching Their Daughters “How to Love and Care”
Tallulah explained that she feels nothing but "love" when they're together and that it's "special" for them to spend time together.
"He is the same, which I think, in this regard, I’ve learned is the best thing you can ask for," she shares. "I see love when I’m with him, and it’s my dad and he loves me, which is really special."
In September, Bruce's wife, Emma Heming, offered an update during an appearance on the Today show. Like Tallulah, she spoke about how important it was for the family to know what was going on, even if they don't know what could happen next.
"It’s hard on the person diagnosed, it’s also hard on the family. And that is no different for Bruce, or myself, or our girls. When they say this is a family disease, it really is," she said. "To finally understand what was happening, so that I could be into the acceptance of what is. It doesn't make it any less painful, but just being in the know of what is happening to Bruce makes it a little easier."