Demi Moore is opening up about the emotional process of seeing the Bruce Willis she once knew change amid his health decline.
“It’s difficult. It’s hard to see somebody who was so, you know, vibrant and strong and so directed shift into this other parts of themself,” Moore said in a vulnerable interview on “The Oprah Podcast” on Tuesday.
“But you know, my particular perspective is one ― I really always say it’s so important just to meet them where they’re at,” she shared. “Don’t have an expectation of them needing to be who they were or who you want them to be. And when you do that, I find that there is an incredible sweetness and something that’s soft and tender and loving.”
Willis, who was married to Moore from 1987 to 2000, was diagnosed with aphasia, which affects the ability to communicate, three years ago.
The actor was diagnosed with frontotemporal dementia the following year.
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Moore added that “the most important place for me is showing up and being present.”
“Because if you project where it’s going, it only creates anxiety. If you replay where it was and what you’ve lost, it only creates anxiety and grief,” she explained. “And so when you stay present, there is so much. And there is still so much of him there. And it may not always be verbal, but it is beautiful given the givens.”
During the interview, Moore also praised Willis’ current wife, Emma Heming Willis, for her role in managing the actor’s health and care.
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Heming Willis has been open about the struggles and heartache that come with being a caretaker, something that she’s channeling into her forthcoming book, “The Unexpected Journey.”
The former model also recently spoke about “one of the hardest decisions” she’s had to make amid Willis’ decline: moving the actor into a separate home for 24/7 care.
“I knew first and foremost, Bruce would want that for our daughters,” she shared in an interview with Diane Sawyer. “He would want them to be in a home that was more tailored to their needs, not his needs.”
Willis and Heming Willis have two daughters together: Mabel, 13, and Evelyn, 11.
