My husband, Bruce Willis, has dementia. It's taught me hard truths.

Caregiving rarely announces itself with fanfare. It arrives quietly and reshapes daily life.

For many families, it arrives with a diagnosis of dementia – a condition that takes many forms, from Alzheimer’s disease to frontotemporal dementia, or FTD, which my husband, Bruce Willis, lives with.

I (Emma Heming Willis) am caring for a spouse with FTD. Steve Schwab has spent more than a decade listening to and elevating the voices of military and veteran caregivers across the country, many of whom care for loved ones with Alzheimer’s and other forms of dementia.

We've been on different journeys, but with shared truths.

Caregiving for someone with dementia is not simply a set of tasks. It is the invisible labor of managing medications, coordinating appointments, navigating systems not designed with caregivers in mind and adapting – daily – to memory loss, personality changes, disrupted sleep and unpredictable behavior.