Even without the brain tumor, Lauren Beck isn’t a typical 13-year-old girl. By Joey Kennedy The brain tumor is there, yes, attached to the thalamus in the left ventricle of her brain. The tumor has, of course, altered her young life forever. The headaches and nausea and balance issues are physical symptoms. Living every day… Read More

My daughter is tying the knot

A Dog’s Purpose

Even if I didn’t think so. By Joey Kennedy May is a tough month. It’s Mother’s Day month. While there’s rarely a day that goes by that I don’t think about my dead mother, it wasn’t always that way. As a young boy and teen, I did not like my mother. She was short, both… Read More

Dr. James B. McClintock weighs in. By Joey Kennedy We’re in the first full month of spring 2018. In Alabama, we know what that can mean: We’re in the season of terrific thunderstorms, of destructive straight-line winds, of tornadoes. My wife and I hadn’t lived in Birmingham long when we had one of these severe… Read More

Timothy Alexander is an MPV at UAB.
By Joey Kennedy

Bless My Heart

By Joey Kennedy

My first exposure to faith scared me to death. I was four years old. Even at that age, I was curious.

Yay. By Joey Kennedy Good riddance, 2017. Welcome, 2018. And, thank God. I hope when you look back on 2017, it’ll be a look back at joy. And wonderful events, milestones, celebrations. Veronica and my 2017 was torture. We lost four dogs in 2017: Onslow (pug), Elton (jug), Mary (bug), and Casey (pug). It was… Read More

But not before Thanksgiving, please. By Joey Kennedy Before Halloween, my wife, Veronica, and I visited a local department store and it had already put up its Christmas displays. Trees and tinsel and lights and, yes, Christmas music. Before Halloween. Come on, folks. Why so early? I’m not so curious about Christmas that I need… Read More

By Joey Kennedy // Photo by Chuck St. John I’ve lived in Birmingham for 35 years. I mean, literally, Birmingham. My wife and I have never lived outside the city’s boundaries. We’ve lived on the East side of Birmingham, on the Southwest side, and now we live on Southside, a few blocks behind UAB, where we’ve owned… Read More