Alpharetta couple documents fight against ALS

He has something to say, so he begins by slowly, deliberately blinking his eyes to spell each word, letter by letter.

“I liked her from the moment I saw her but she had a boyfriend.”

Hope Dezember blushes and resumes telling their story — how it was that they met, fell in love and then, just like that, Steve was diagnosed with amyotrophic lateral sclerosis.

Also known as Lou Gehrig's disease, ALS is an incurable disorder that attacks the nerve cells that control voluntary movement.

The tragedy of the disease, they say, is that the body deteriorates rapidly and within five years of the first symptoms patients die.

Not Steve Dezember and not before he has the chance to check one more item — to see his story told on film — off his bucket list.

"Hope for Steve" will debut Sunday at the Buckhead Theatre.