Bruce Willis’ wife Emma Heming marks ‘hard’ 16-year anniversary with actor

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Emma Heming Willis has admitted “anniversaries are hard” in an emotional Instagram post as she marked 16 years with her husband Bruce Willis.

Earlier this year, Willis’s family announced that the Die Hard actor’s previous diagnosis of the cognitive condition aphasia had developed into frontotemporal dementia.

Marking the years they’ve spent together, the British model, 45, took to Instagram on Wednesday (27 December) to share photos of her and Willis, 68, in a tropical getaway.

In one of the photos, Willis is seen kissing her husband on the cheek and in another, the pair can be seen embracing.

“16 years with this special man. My love and adoration for him only grows,” the caption on the post said.

She also shared an update on Instagram stories about how she’s been feeling as Willis battles with dementia.

Speaking to fans , she said: “How do I really feel about today? Well how do I look?"

She let out a small laugh before adding: "Think this about sums it up" as she pointed to herself as she sported a blue jumper, while looking fresh faced.

"I just got off the phone with a really dear girlfriend of mine who I was able to have a good cry with. It is really important to be able to have someone that you can trust with your feelings instead of just bottling them up and putting your best foot forward and just kind of soldering through stuff which I have a tendency to do."

She added: "But you know, holidays are hard. Anniversaries are hard. But for me this year, it’s really been about community - building a community and connection. And I just want to say that has been my lifeline and I just want to thank you for that."

The family said they had the “deepest gratitude for the incredible outpouring of love” following the initial news of the actor’s diagnosis.

FTD is an “umbrella term” for a group of dementias that mainly affect the frontal and temporal lobes of the brain, which are responsible for such things as personality, behaviour, language and speech, according to Dementia UK.

The pair first met in 2007 and made their official public appearance together at the Sundance Film Festival in January 2007. At the time, the media personality accompanied Willis to the premiere of his film What Just Happened?

The loved-up couple tied the knot in a wedding ceremony held in Turks and Caicos on 21 March 2009.

They now share two daughters, Evelyn, 9, and Mabel, 11, in addition to the actor’s three adult daughters with Demi Moore: Rumer Glenn Willis, 35, Scout LaRue Willis, 32, and Tallulah Belle Willis, 29.

In March of this year, marking their wedding anniversary, Willis reflected on her time caring for the Die Hard star since his diagnosis.

In an Instagram tribute, she shared a photo of a bouquet of flowers a friend sent to the family’s home.

She wrote of the person’s "random act of kindness," in a caption, writing that her friend’s flower delivery "inspired the heck out of me."