LOS ANGELES, CALIFORNIA: Tallulah Willis has shared how she is handling her father's dementia and recalls the painful time she thought his illness was just him "losing interest." In an essay for Vogue magazine on Wednesday, May 31, Tallulah, the youngest of Bruce Willis and Demi Moore's three daughters including Rumer, 34, and Scout, 31 opened up about life after learning that her father had frontotemporal dementia. She claimed she has "known that something was wrong for a long time" despite receiving a solid diagnosis only in March 2022.
Bruce's youngest daughter, however, acknowledged that as it got worse, she started to "take it personally." It started out with a kind of vague unresponsiveness, which the family chalked up to hearing loss after being on too many Hollywood action film sets and stunt explosions. "'Speak up! 'Die Hard' messed with Dad’s ears,'" The 29-year-old wrote in her essay. "Later that unresponsiveness broadened, and I sometimes took it personally."
Why did Tallulah think her dad 'lost interest'?
Tallulah, 29, tragically believed that her father Bruce had lost interest in her as soon as his two daughters Mabel Ray, 11, and Evelyn Penn, 9 with wife Emma Heming were born. She had no idea his 'indifference' was caused by dementia. "Though this couldn’t have been further from the truth, my adolescent brain tortured itself with some faulty math: I’m not beautiful enough for my mother, I’m not interesting enough for my father," she penned in her essay.
'I was too sick myself to handle it'
The 29-year-old claims that the upheaval of her four-year fight with anorexia nervosa made it difficult for her to accept Bruce's deteriorating condition. "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," the 'Bandits' star noted. "The truth is that I was too sick myself to handle it. … While I was wrapped up in my body dysmorphia, flaunting it on Instagram, my dad was quietly struggling."
How did Bruce's condition affect her?
Tallulah claimed that while at a wedding in the summer of 2021, she was forced to face the truth about her father's condition and its effects on her life. The father of the bride gave an emotional speech. Tallulah suddenly understood that she would never experience that scenario — "my dad speaking about me in adulthood at my wedding" — as she puts it in her memoir. "It was devastating. I left the dinner table, stepped outside and wept in the bushes."
How is her relationship with her father now?
Tallulah claimed that now that she has overcome her eating condition, she can view her bond with her father from a more positive angle. "I now have the tools to be present in all facets of my life, and especially in my relationship with my dad," the daughter noted. "I can bring him an energy that’s bright and sunny, no matter where I’ve been" adding that In the past she was so "afraid of being destroyed by sadness", but finally she feels that "she can show up and be relied upon." She went on and wrote, "I can savor that time, hold my dad’s hand, and feel that it’s wonderful. I know that trials are looming, that this is the beginning of grief, but that whole thing about loving yourself before you can love somebody else — it’s real."
