My father had Alzheimer's for quite a few years before he died. He did not go at all quickly. He continued to be able to fool strangers into thinking he had his faculties, but he would talk to me on the phone, clearly not knowing I was his daughter, and try to be glib and witty and make small talk. This no doubt worked on strangers, but the fact that he did not know I was his daughter was a bit hard for me to miss.

His death was very slow. He basically starved to death ever so slowly. The one photo I saw from his funeral was unrecognizable. He had always been a big man with a round face. He was basically a skeleton.

I think the entire family was basically glad to see his suffering at an end. We had already lost him years earlier, but now he could finally rest.