I feel he has not been forgotten. My husband is only 43 years old and in a nursing home in the later stages of the disease. We have two children aged 12 and seven years. I have been told by well-intentioned family and friends not to take them to visit their father because it will distress them too much. I agree that dementia is an undignified disease but we should not abandon our loved ones when they need us most.
Children are far more adaptable and accepting than adults.
Perhaps we have a lot to learn from them.