To the Editor:

Last Oct. 21, I lost my father, Stephen Edwin DeMeritt of Barnegat Light, who had suffered for years with the challenges of Alzheimer’s disease. Although I had told my friends over the years that Alzheimer’s is the disease that allows you to say ‘goodbye for a long time’ – it still wasn’t enough. The night before he passed away, when my mother and her friend tried to put him to bed, he instead insisted that “No, Chris puts me to bed!” I am thankful that he still knew us when he finally died.

October 26, 2016