Most people don’t know what to say to someone who comes down with a deadly disease. Keep it simple. If you don’t know what to say, or, if you’re afraid you might say the wrong thing, try this:

How are you doing?

That’s a good start.

When friends or family ask me “How are you doing?” I answer as simply as possible.

I ain’t dead yet.

I know. Ice breaker, right?

As of today, I ain’t dead yet. But time is running out. I know it. My wife knows it. Friends and family know it.

I long for a different outcome to ALS but I know where this journey leads and ends.

But I ain’t dead yet.