Demi Moore and her daughters, Rumer, Tallulah, and Scout, are embracing the holidays that now look a little different. The blended family used to spend Christmas together with Bruce Willis, his wife Emma Heming, and their two daughters, but following his heartbreaking diagnosis, this year they were missing from the family picture.
Rumer shared two photos on Instagram after the holiday in matching pajamas with their mom and what looked like extended family and friends. Of course, fans couldn't help but notice that Bruce wasn't there. "What about Bruce? Tell him we All Love him," reads the top-liked comment.
Emma opened up about Bruce living in a separate home with round-the-clock care in September. “It was a hard decision for us, but that was the safest and best decision, not just for Bruce but also for our two young girls,” Emma said on Good Morning America. “It’s really not up for a debate.”
She was met with criticism, but many fans have been understanding and have encouraged others to learn more about the disease before passing judgment. In Rumer's post, one explained, "I was looking for Bruce too, but adjustments have to be made behind the camera, and this is one of them. They (in the picture) will be having to adjust to these changes too, and it won't be easy for them." "Cut them some slack and be mindful. They love Bruce, we love Bruce. Just because they're smiling in the photo, doesn't mean they're smiling [because] he's not there."
This new phase also means respecting Bruce's privacy and that of his young daughters. So whatever the family did to celebrate Christmas with Bruce was likely very special and kept private.
Christmas 2022
How Emma has been handling the holidays
Ahead of Christmas, Emma penned an essay on her website, opening up about the feelings surrounding the holiday. "I find myself, harmlessly, cursing Bruce’s name while wrestling with the holiday lights or taking on tasks that used to be his. Not because I’m mad at him, never that, but because I miss the way he once led the holiday charge,” she wrote.
While she acknowledges she's allowed to feel annoyed by how "this is one more reminder of how things have changed," Emma assured, "There’s a misconception that if the holidays aren’t what they once were, they must be hollow. But meaning doesn’t require everything to stay the same. It requires connection."
She also shared how the family would be celebrating. "This holiday season, our family will still unwrap gifts and sit together at breakfast. But instead of Bruce making our favorite pancakes, I will," she wrote. “We’ll put on a holiday movie. There will be laughter and cuddles. And there will almost certainly be tears because we can grieve and make room for joy. The joy doesn’t cancel out the sadness. The sadness doesn’t cancel out the joy. They coexist.”
The next day, she shared a tender video Bruce recorded while they were at Magic Mountain in 2008. She explained that she took the kids to Magic Mountain the day prior with friends, and their last ride was Viper. "The last time I rode it was with Bruce, back in 2008. And that time was FUN. I’m pretty sure you’re not supposed to bring a camera on those rides, but I’m so glad he did," she wrote in the caption.
The post showed the actor everyone fell in love with. "His commentary. His laugh. He always made everything fun," she wrote in the caption. "That was him, pure fun. I love him. And simply, I miss him being my ride companion."