By Laura McAlister Journal Editor Scott Swedenburg always wanted the holidays to be more about giving than getting in his family, so before the first present is unwrapped or turkey dinner devoured, his family piles up in the car and heads to downtown Birmingham.Scott, his wife Kathie and sons Jake and Matt have been volunteering at the Jimmie Hale Mission for nearly 15 … [Read more...]
Tribble: Take Two
By Laura McAlister Journal Editor Tribble Reese may have missed his chance for love on the first season of CMT's "Sweet Home Alabama," but the network has given him another chance.Actually, it's more like 22 chances.Mountain Brook's Tribble is the star of the second season of the reality dating show that pits contestants from the country and the city against each … [Read more...]
A Time for Everything
By Laura McAlister Journal EditorWhen Ellen Marie Edmonds met her husband, the late Frank Edmonds, he was a CEO, not a soldier. Late in his life, though, she did get to meet the soldier as well as the teenager and child that her husband once was.Frank suffered from vascular dementia, a disease similar to Alzheimer's, the last two years of his life and succumbed to the … [Read more...]
Identity Crisis
By Laura McAlisterTo describe it as a bad hair day would be an understatement.Instead, Liz DeFuniak Landgren of Homewood refers to it as "the day my hair fell out."It happened some eight years ago. The model and mother was just weeks away from the arrival of her second child."I was in the shower, and my hair just started falling out," she said. "I called my … [Read more...]
CanSurvive Supports Women With Gynecologic Cancers
By Laura McAlisterCheryl Bourn has been cancer free for more than five years, but she's still an active member of the CanSurvive cancer support group.For her, the group is not just about coping with cancer. It's also about education and awareness.Cheryl is the president of CanSurvive, a nonprofit organization that supports women with gynecologic cancers and their … [Read more...]