Allira
I think he sees her every day, accepts how she is, his dear wife and just didn't think it would be publicised by the voracious press and might shock people who remembered her as Bet Lynch.
She looks happy which means she is loved and cared for and that's all that matters.
I remember when DH's aunt had dementia and refused to have her teeth in or have her hair cut. She looked completely different from the very smart woman we always remembered.
Should we hide people with dementia away?
As if we're ashamed of them?
Yes, I agree. I do understand the whole consent issue, but having been through dementia with my mother and MiL, I get this side of the debate too.
I remember a cousin coming to the care home to visit my mum, who she hadn't seen for several years. There was a photo of my mum outside her room, and when my cousin saw it, she said 'that's not my auntie' and point blank refused to see her in person.
But that was how she looked. That was her reality.
A friend who works in a dementia care home said this, and I think it is very true.
"I don't see any cruelty in the photo, I see a woman with a big smile on her face looking happy. It's disgusting that people think that her husband should hide her away as if she's something to be ashamed of. To her husband she's still Julie, still the woman he married and he's still proud of her. Dementia isn't pretty, it's cruel and it's harder on the loved ones who are watching dementia slowly taking our loved one further away from us but we still see the person inside, we see glimpses of the person they once were, they still deserve to be loved and valued and seen. I think people need to learn about dementia and see that those who live with it are still human, still important and more importantly they are still loved."