Nashoba Publishing/Lyn Giancotti Shown with his wife, Faith, Bill Wilkinson says that though life does not always hand you events that are easy to live with, you can choose how to live with them.

TOWNSEND -- In September, Bill and Faith Wilkinson of Townsend will celebrate 44 years of marriage. They have two children, Jennifer and Bill Jr., and two grandchildren, Benjamin and Nathan.

They met when Bill was a bank teller for the Concord office of Middlesex Savings Bank when Faith would routinely use Bill's line to make her bank deposits.

Bill got bold one day and put up a "next" sign in his window on lunch break. He followed Faith to the grocery store across from the bank and asked for her number. That's when their love affair began, Bill recalls with a very large grin.

Bill and Faith moved to Townsend in January of 1971, where they remain today in the same home. Bill worked for North Middlesex Savings Bank and Faith stayed at home raising their two children. Faith eventually went back to work as a medical secretary in the offices of the Drs. Sprague Family Practice in Townsend.

In November of 1990, Faith was diagnosed with breast cancer. She had a double mastectomy followed by chemotherapy. She is currently a 20-year breast cancer survivor.

Faith has always been involved in the community. Included was support for the American Cancer Society's "Daffodil Days." The daffodil is the first flower of spring, a symbol of hope, renewal and for the American Cancer Society, the promise that one day the world will be free of cancer (daffodil.acsevents.org).

Faith was a coordinator for

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Townsend, collecting donations and delivering daffodils all around town to support the foundation.

She was also a Library Trustee and volunteered in the Townsend Congregational Church.

Equally community-minded, Bill served on the town's Finance Committee.

In 2006, Bill noticed changes in Faith's speech. A long line of neurological tests finally diagnosed sporadic ALS (Lou Gehrig's Disease), a progressive neurodegenerative disease that attacks nerve cells in the brain and spinal cord resulting in muscle weakness and atrophy. The majority of patients with this adult-onset ALS (90 percent) have no family history and present as an isolated case.

Having retired from North Middlesex Savings Bank, where he still sits on the board of directors, Bill feels fortunate to be a full-time caregiver for Faith. The disease has progressed. She now gets around in a power chair and communicates through her computer and a big smile.

"We have been in love for 45 years," said Bill, "and if it's possible for life together and love to grow having experienced this, it's happened for us. We are closer than ever before."

"We are so fortunate to have each other all these years and live in a town like Townsend," said Bill. "Everyone has been so supportive and people have never shied away from Faith."

Bill stressed how many people have been praying for Faith, visiting, bringing meals and supporting him as the primary caregiver.

Faith was one of the founding members of the "Breakfast Club" in Townsend, though she can no longer attend. She is still very active in her book club, however, which started on 2003. Her favorite book is "The Long Walk," a story about human endurance. Faith is currently being treated at Mass General Hospital where doctors are amazed at how good she looks and how great her spirit is.

Asked how he and Faith maintain those smiles and stay so positive, Bill said he makes sure they laugh every day, have fresh flowers in the house and feed the birds.

"You have to live in the moment, yet plan for your future," he said.

This is not a condition you would ever choose to have, he said, but you can choose how you live with it each and every day.