WEST PALM BEACH, Fla. – Susan Spencer-Wendel has made a career covering courts and criminals, so she’s used to asking tough questions.

Now that she’s the subject of national media attention herself, she appreciates journalists who tackle the hard stuff head-on – like the question she was asked several times in recent months.

“Do you think this is your last Christmas?”

Her answer was direct.

“Yes. So by jove we’re gonna enjoy it!”

Creating lasting memories from “last” holidays and celebrating joy in every moment has been Spencer-Wendel’s quest since summer 2011, when she learned she had amyotrophic lateral sclerosis, known as ALS or as Lou Gehrig’s disease.

As the incurable disease began to wither her muscles, Spencer-Wendel took control like the resourceful reporter she is. She decided that if her time would be limited, she would squeeze every bit of fun out of it.

She planned bucket-list trips with her dearest loved ones, then wrote about two of them in The Palm Beach Post, where she has been courts reporter for 11 years.

Stories of her amazing trips – one to see the Northern Lights with her best friend, Nancy, and another to Budapest, Hungary, with her husband, John to celebrate their 20th wedding anniversary – got the attention of book publishers. HarperCollins paid about $2 million for Spencer-Wendel’s life story, and Universal Pictures paid $2 million more for movie rights.

Spencer-Wendel typed her memoir, “Until I Say Goodbye,” in three months on an iPhone with the one finger that had not forsaken her – her right thumb. The book will be published in March and translated into 25 languages.

HarperCollins called Spencer-Wendel’s story “a powerfully emotional, inspirational and irrepressibly joyous look at the things that matter most. ‘Until I Say Goodbye’ is the fulfillment of her final wish: ‘To make people laugh and cry and hug their children and joke with their friends and dwell in how wonderful it is to be alive.’”

Several weeks ago, Spencer-Wendel wrote an email update on her life – which recently included interviews with People magazine, NBC’s “Today,” NPR and The Associated Press – to share with her newspaper’s readers:

“I so enjoy meeting the journalists. Seeing what they create and how talented they are. People shared their stories with me for so many years, I consider it a privilege to share mine with them.

“We taped a lot of media these past weeks as my voice becomes more slurred every day. All the content is due to be aired around March 12 – the book’s release date. By then, my voice will be unintelligible. ...

“I knew it would be this way. So for Thanksgiving we had our major holiday event. Our entire families – 40 in all – came. Was wonderful. Hectic, but wonderful.

“Thus, Christmas is a time just for John and me and our children.”

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The family enjoyed the day at its home in Lake Clarke Shores, Fla., where Spencer-Wendel’s favorite writing spot is the big chickee hut in the backyard.

She planned special “forever” gifts for her family: Scrapbooks for her three children – large, leather-bound books with their names embossed in gold on the front and their lives catalogued inside. She had necklaces designed for the most precious women in her life – her daughter Marina, 15; her mother, Tee; her sister, Stephanie; and her best friend, Nancy. The necklaces feature two entwined circles with their and Spencer-Wendel’s names.

She had personal gifts made for John and her father, Tom, too.

When they asked her what she wanted for Christmas, she asked for a ring, an heirloom that could be passed to Marina or the fiancee of one of her two sons some day.

Spencer-Wendel and her husband also gave generous gifts to causes dear to their hearts: The Legal Aid Society, ALS research and a $10,000 check to the Post’s holiday campaign for needy neighbors, Season to Share.

“It was my privilege to once write ‘Season to Share’ stories and now my privilege to make this gift,” Spencer-Wendel wrote in the card with their check. “I thank the journalists and editors who brought such giving to fore.”

Through these tangible gifts and her intangible spirit, Spencer-Wendel has made sure her last chapter lasts.

“Mine is a story of twinning good and bad fortunes, which I find profound meaning in,” she wrote.

“I read every day a passage about joy and sorrow from Kahlil Gibran’s ‘The Prophet.’ It is about how ‘the deeper sorrow carves into your being, the more joy you can contain.’

“‘Is not the cup which holds your wine the very cup burned in the potter’s oven?’

“I believe this. That in the long trajectory of my family’s lives, a deep sorrow now will open worlds of feeling for them in the future.

“This comforts me, brings me great peace.

“And the ability to delight in today and today alone.”