"She's on my side"

Ella was gone when I arrived yesterday. Don informed me that she hadn't been feeling well the past few days, but yesterday felt well enough to go to the high school. The... high school? I wondered about this, but did not ask. I was thinking maybe a grandchild was still in high school, but I thought all the grand kids were of collage age or higher. As he gestured at his own hair, and mentioned that she felt the need for a new hair style, I realized he meant that she had gone to the salon.

We went back so he could show me the trouble with the sheets and pillow cases. You'll recall the note he left on September 13th. He had stripped the bed, and the linens were piled at the end of the mattress, with the bloody spots exposed. Yes, I agreed that they were very bad. Then he said "You'll have to help me out. Ella said something about that blanket (he gestures toward a comforter on the floor), but I forgot what she said.
"I have a feeling she wants it under your coverlet, as the air has gotten much more chilly since I made the bed last time."
"Oh! Thank you! I'm sure you're right. It has been colder."

Later, when Ella was home and the two of them were having lunch, he suddenly said to her "She's on my side about the bed making!"

Ella looked at me, and I shrugged my shoulders and smiled. He was SO triumphant.

If Dementia is stealing away the person you love, handling it like Ella is doing is making the best of a bad situation. She never makes Don feel like less of a man, or less of a person. We both just agreed that I was on his side, and I whispered to her later that I was going to add the comforter to the bed.

As I said before; they're not used to having help in their home. A couple of hours later, Don emerged from the bedroom and said "I went back to see if I could help you with the bed, and it was already made!"