There is a couple whose marriage was impacted by ALS early in the game. Lorraine and Don acclimated to the gradual losses that Lou Gehrig's Disease dropped in their laps. Muscle weakness slid into dropping coffee cups. Clumsy feet led to a wheelchair. A change in the pitch of his voice preceded a ventilator and no voice at all.

Their relationship shifted when Don could no longer speak to his wife, and all of the thoughts and feelings lay trapped inside like a bird that accidentally comes in my back door. The bird bangs against the window pane. Perhaps Don's words banged against his closed lips flapping desperately for a way to get out. But eventually the only movement left was in his eyes.

 A team called Not Impossible created a communication device that brought speech back to Don. By looking at the letters, he was able to construct words, and the machine spoke them.

"I love you Lorraine."

Some of us who still have a larynx forget to say the things that matter. We prattle on about the bills, and dishes in the sink. But we have fallen silent about the syllables that string all of the isolated beads of time into a necklace.