A Family Determined to Find Joy Amid Grief
Despite the heartbreak woven through every aspect of their reality, Emma says she has made a conscious decision not to let grief be the only note in their lives.
“We are on this journey. I think I have learned to walk alongside the grief that I feel,” she said. “There came a point where I really needed to not have that be the only note. That it was OK to bring in joy and laughter and fun. But it’s a balancing act.”
She is also using her experiences to teach her daughters, Mabel and Evelyn, the importance of self-care and brain health from a young age. “I’m modeling it for them. They see that I prioritize sleep, nutrition, movement, connection … and I see that they’re kind of following my lead,” she said.
Bruce’s specific form of the disease FTD with primary progressive aphasia (PPA) gradually strips away a person’s ability to communicate and understand language.
Yet Emma is emphatic that her connection with her husband remains unbroken. “For us, now, our communication is different, but our connection is very much intact,” she said.
Despite it all, Emma says Bruce is doing remarkably well, crediting the outpouring of love around him. “It’s important for us to be able to put our health first, so that we can continue to care for the people that we love,” she said a quiet but powerful reminder that in the Willis household, love remains the most powerful medicine of all.
