{"version":1,"type":"rich","provider_name":"Libsyn","provider_url":"https:\/\/www.libsyn.com","height":90,"width":600,"title":"Episode 97: Emma Heming Willis and Michele Bender","description":"\u201cNo two caregiving journeys are alike,\u201d writes Emma Heming Willis, the wife of actor Bruce Willis, who was diagnosed in 2023 with Frontotemporal Dementia (FTD), a rare form of dementia affecting behavior, movement and language. \u201cBut we are connected by the same unchosen thread.\u201d In The Unexpected Journey: Finding Strength, Hope, and Yourself on the Caregiving Path, Emma writes movingly and hopefully about the blessings and burdens of being thrust into the role of caregiver, emerging as a passionate voice for care partners and families navigating neurodegenerative disease. Together with her collaborator, Michele Bender, she offers an essential blueprint for others confronting some of the same issues facing her own family. \u201cMy grief can still paralyze me,\u201d she shares in the pages of the book she wishes someone had handed her when her husband was first diagnosed. \u201cI still have a hard time accepting what is, yet FTD doesn\u2019t give you many options. It can suck all the air out of a room. So I\u2019ve made a choice to pump oxygen back into our lives, for the sake of our girls, Bruce, and me. And to give the middle finger to this disease.\u201d Join us as we visit with Emma Heming Willis and her co-author Michele Bender for a heartbreaking and heart-lifting conversation on what it takes to tap the universal elements in such a deeply personal story\u2014and what it means to step from an unimaginable darkness at home to stand in the world as a light for others. Learn more about our guests:  Emma Heming Willis Website Emma Heming Willis Facebook Emma Heming Willis Instagram Michele Bender Website Michele Bender Instagram   Please support the sponsors who support our show:  Gotham Ghostwriters' Gathering of the Ghosts Ritani Jewelers  Daniel Paisner's Balloon Dog Daniel Paisner's&amp;nbsp;SHOW: The Making and Unmaking of a Network Television Pilot Heaven Help Us&amp;nbsp;by John Kasich Unforgiving: Lessons from the Fall by Lindsey Jacobellis Film Movement Plus (PODCAST) | 30% discount Libro.fm (ASTOLDTO) | 2 audiobooks for the price of 1 when you start your membership Film Freaks Forever! podcast, hosted by Mark Jordan Legan and Phoef Sutton Everyday Shakespeare podcast A Mighty Blaze podcast The Writer's Bone Podcast Network Misfits Market (WRITERSBONE) | $15 off your first order&amp;nbsp; Film Movement Plus (PODCAST) | 30% discount Wizard Pins (WRITERSBONE) | 20% discount  ","author_name":"As Told To","author_url":"http:\/\/astoldtopodcast.com\/","html":"<iframe title=\"Libsyn Player\" style=\"border: none\" src=\"\/\/html5-player.libsyn.com\/embed\/episode\/id\/38464870\/height\/90\/theme\/custom\/thumbnail\/yes\/direction\/forward\/render-playlist\/no\/custom-color\/88AA3C\/\" height=\"90\" width=\"600\" scrolling=\"no\"  allowfullscreen webkitallowfullscreen mozallowfullscreen oallowfullscreen msallowfullscreen><\/iframe>","thumbnail_url":"https:\/\/assets.libsyn.com\/secure\/content\/193818095"}