The poem Afasia was received March 09, 2015, from Sally Tipton, wife of Steve, who is now in a memory impaired unit. He was diagnosed with primary progressive aphasia (PPA) in October ’99. She writes:

My 75 year old husband, Steve, was a high school English teacher and so his loss of language to progressive aphasia 15 years ago was particularly cruel. …One of his students, Roz Young Kubek, has become a poet and wrote a poignant poem sharing what he meant to her as a teacher, and her grief as his language slipped away. Former teacher or not, the poem may speak to others facing the loss of the ability to communicate verbally with loved ones.