MUSCLE SHOALS ? When Pam Zills walks into her kitchen and opens the cabinets, she sees a work of art created just for her by the hands of her husband.

Inside the newly designed kitchen, David Zills shows off the hidden amenities of the wooden cupboards where the bottom shelves are really giant drawers, and a door in the corner hides a Lazy Susan.

"We call it the Lazy Pam," he said as his wife smiled nearby.

David drew from his imagination and his past work in other kitchens when he designed the cabinets.

"I wanted to put a lot of character into them. I wanted it to be different," he said.

For years, David had promised Pam he would redesign their kitchen. But between his regular job at a gas company and side jobs making other people's cabinets, there never seemed to be enough time.

Zills began to make the time in February 2002, after he was diagnosed with amyotrophic lateral sclerosis.

"I didn't have a clue what that was," he said.

The long words didn't mean much to him until the doctor called the illness by its common name, Lou Gherig's disease.

ALS is a neurodegenerative disease that restricts voluntary control of muscle movement. Eventually, the disease paralyzes patients and takes away their ability to communicate, or even to blink. The mind, however, remains intact.

It's like the reverse form of Alzheimer's, an illness in which the body remains strong while the brain degenerates.

"(ALS has) been here longer than Lou Gehrig; he was the first celebrity that exposed the disease," Zills said. "People don't talk about it a whole lot."

An estimated 30,000 Americans have ALS. The average life expectancy after diagnosis is two to five years.

Zills first noticed something was wrong when his left arm began to twitch. After it become more severe, he went to several doctors for tests.

Zills was a regular at the gym, a part-time carpenter and outdoorsman.

"I was as healthy as I could be," he said. "Then all of a sudden, you get a death sentence put on you."

His hands are becoming stiff, making regular movements progressively difficult.

"Overall, it's not a painful disease at this point," he said.

The most physical pain that ALS brings is the occasional muscle cramps Zills gets when he stands.

"It's very difficult to see David go through this. He's the love of my life," Pam said. "If it wasn't for my faith in God, I couldn't get through this."

The couple began going to ALS support group meetings in Huntsville, where there are two women and four men in attendance.

"We're just trying to give each other hope and encouragement," he said. "I've always been used to fixing things. This is something that we can't fix."

There is a new face every month at the support group. Some are already in wheelchairs.

"I feel like I'm doing really good right now," he said.

However, Zills knew at the time he was diagnosed that working with his hands would become limited. Weeks later, he went to work on the cabinets, first on paper, then with his tools.

"I was still fairly strong. I just worked a little bit at a time in the afternoons," he said. "I wanted to lighten the kitchen up; it was really dark in there."

Now that the project is complete, the place where the couple meets each morning has a new luster. "She works, but she gets up and cooks breakfast for us every morning," Zills said, referring to his wife. "She's a cook ? she's a gourmet cook."

While doctors often tell patients to leave their job and spend their remaining years in leisure, Zills refuses. He looks forward to going to work each day. He'll do it as long as he can.

"This is enjoying life for me because this is what I always wanted to do," he said. "So far, I'm able to keep up with the responsibility. My company has been really good to work with me through this."

Zills is not a fatalist, yet knows the severity of his illness. Time is important to him.

"It scares me to know that my mind is sound and I'm lying there and I can't do anything," he said. "We're all going to die; we just want to live longer than 49 years old."

"I'm a very selfish person," Pam added. "I'm not ready to give him up."

The father of three sons has begun keeping a journal and plans to record tapes for his family.

Like his wife, Zills said it is his faith in God that makes the hard times a little easier. He said he doesn't want to die ? no one really does.

"Even if (God) doesn't heal me physically, he healed me in '74 when he saved me."

With the help of several friends, Zills fulfilled his promise to Pam. What would have normally taken him two months to do took about year. But no one was complaining.

"That's when I found out that I do have some good folks that would help me," Zills said. "We just got done last Saturday."

The family and their helpers celebrated with a barbecue last week. More than 30 people filled the house.

For the Zills, the kitchen project was more than home improvement. It was a husband's statement of affection to his wife.

The couple will celebrate their 25th wedding anniversary this year.

"This is love," Pam said, as she looked up at the cabinets. "Every board that we cut and every nail that was hammered and every staple that went into it, I know he did it for me, something that I can have forever."