Archive of ‘Wednesday’s Word’ category

Eunice Elliott’s biggest night yet: Lighting up Birmingham’s Legacy Arena on tour with Matt Mathews

By Chanda Temple

Since October 2024, Eunice Elliott has been traveling across America as the opening act for Matt Mathews‘ Live Nation comedy tour known as “Boujee on a Budget.”

The Bessemer, AL natives have performed in sold out venues throughout the tour, and on Monday, Dec. 29 at 7 p.m., they will take the stage at Birmingham’s Legacy Arena. In Eunice’s 17 years of doing stand-up comedy, the Birmingham show will be her largest venue yet with more than 6,500 people slated to attend. (As of this evening, the show was sold out.)

“I feel blessed, and I feel honored,” Eunice said. “To watch (Matt) go from zero to a billion, he’s a phenomenon.”

Alabama comedians Eunice Elliott and Matt Mathews, who've been on a national tour since fall 2024, will bring their funny home to Birmingham on Dec. 29 at Legacy Arena. (Photo provided by Eunice Elliott.)
Alabama natives Eunice Elliott and Matt Mathews will bring their funny home to Birmingham on Dec. 29 at Legacy Arena. (Photo provided by Eunice Elliott.)

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Those wings from Piggly Wiggly? They are more than a meal for Kimberly Callines

By Chanda Temple

Five wings and sweet potato casserole.

That’s all Kimberly Callines wanted from Piggly Wiggly following her ob/gyn appointment at a Birmingham hospital in February 2022 . In fact, she wanted the meal so badly that she had made up her mind she was going to skip her scheduled mammogram right after her gynecologist visit and head down the street to pick up the Southern delicacy.

But as she stood at the elevator, ready to push the button to the floor that would take her to her car, she changed her mind when she heard God say, “Go get the mammogram.”

She followed orders and had the mammogram. The technician looked at Kimberly’s images and said, “Un-uhh. They may call you back for another mammogram.”

That call back set things in motion that forever changed Kimberly’s life. Additional testing showed that she had Stage 1 breast cancer.

Kimberly Callines (Photo provided by Kimberly Callines)
Kimberly Callines (Photo provided by Kimberly Callines)

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LaKisha Cargill refuses to let breast cancer steal her flavor for life

By Chanda Temple

LaKisha Cargill was 28 years old when she learned she had Stage II, ER+, HER- and ductal carcinoma in situ. The year was 2006.

She underwent chemo and then had lumpectomies to remove the tumor in 2007 in her left breast. She thought she was in the clear of Stage II breast cancer.

But nearly a decade later, cancer returned. This time, it was Stage IV.

Today, LaKisha is a thriver as she lives with cancer every day, balancing treatments and checkups with work, travel and writing in Birmingham.

“Live your life to the fullest,” she said.

LaKisha Cargill found a lump in her breast in August 2006 but couldn't get in to get a mammogram until that November. At first, doctors told her she was too young to have breast cancer, but scheduled her for a mammogram anyway. While she waited for weeks, she didn't get discouraged. She maintained her trust in the Lord. "Since I sensed it was cancer, I didn’t let it stop me from living my life,'' she said. "I continued working, planned a trip to Las Vegas in October, and waited for my appointment." (Photo provided by LaKisha Cargill)
LaKisha Cargill found a lump in her breast in August 2006 but couldn’t get in to get a mammogram until that November. At first, doctors told her she was too young to have breast cancer, but scheduled her for a mammogram anyway. While she waited for weeks, she didn’t get discouraged. She maintained her trust in the Lord. “Since I sensed it was cancer, I didn’t let it stop me from living my life,” she said. “I continued working, planned a trip to Las Vegas in October, and waited for my appointment.” (Photo provided by LaKisha Cargill)

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How Nataly Swann Keeps fighting for Joy After Breast Cancer

By Chanda Temple

In fighting breast cancer, Nataly Swann lost her eyelashes, her eyebrows and a few fingernails.

She also lost her happiness.

For someone who was once carefree, cancer left Nataly heavy with worry about herself and if she’d ever see her family in her homeland of Russia again. Tears flowed, hitting the hard, rough reality she couldn’t change. But as every tear fell, Nataly’s footing eventually softened, making way for a whole new harvest.

How did she reap her happiness again?

“Oh, it’s a journey,” she admits. “I’m still adjusting to it.’’

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At 19 years old, Jordan Collins received a diagnosis that changed everything

By Chanda Temple

Jordan Collins was a sophomore at the University of Alabama in October 2024, when her world seemed to stop.

There, standing in the shower, she felt a lump. She was only 19.

The next morning, she went to a women’s health clinic and underwent additional testing. On Nov. 19, 2024, she was told she had Stage 0 breast cancer.

Immediately, her mind began to race. Could it had been something she ate? Something she drank? Her environment? Could it have even been her family genes since several of her aunts had had breast cancer?

Then, she leaned on her faith to ease her fears. And right there, ‘”Jordan, the Warrior ” was born.

“I said, ‘This is my fight, and I will fight it.’ ”

Birmingham native and Ramsay High School graduate Jordan Collins was diagnosed with breast cancer at the age of 19. (Photo by Chanda Temple)
Birmingham native and Ramsay High School graduate Jordan Collins wore this fuchsia dress to deliver her breast cancer speech today at Birmingham City Hall to show “life after breast cancer looks amazing.’ (Photo by Chanda Temple)

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Gratitude and Generosity define Jamie Shelby’s journey beyond breast cancer

By Chanda Temple 

Jamie Shelby went in for her routine mammogram in January 2016, thinking the results would be the same clear results she’d received in the past. 

A few days later, while she was in Key West waiting to depart for an extended vacation to the Bahamas with her husband and friends, her cellphone rang. It was her doctor’s office telling her she needed to return for additional testing. 

Jamie Shelby received word right before going on a vacation that there was an issue with her mammogram. She took this photo while vacationing with her husband and friends. Here, she is happy in a hammock, holding the hand of David Lawrence, her husband's  best friend from Sonoma, Cali. (Photo provided by Jamie Shelby)
Jamie Shelby received word right before going on a vacation that there was an issue with her mammogram. She took this photo while vacationing with her husband and friends. Here, she is happy in a hammock, holding the hand of David Lawrence, her husband’s  best friend from Sonoma, Cali. (Photo provided by Jamie Shelby)

She sat there, stunned, wondering if she should cut her vacation before it even started or return to Birmingham at the end of the vacation. The doctor’s office told her she had time and to come in after her vacation. 

While in the Bahamas, Jamie tried to enjoy the ocean views and sand. But lingering in the back of her mind as she laid back in a hammock was, “Will I ever be here again?” 

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Niki’s West meals helped fuel Tonya Allen’s fight against breast cancer

*In America, one in eight women will be diagnosed with invasive breast cancer during their lifetime. In honor of Breast Cancer Awareness Month, I will be profiling one female breast cancer survivor each day in October 2025. The stories will also highlight a food from a Birmingham, AL restaurant or vendor they liked at some point during their breast cancer journey or today. The series is called “SurviveHer at the Table: Food. Faith. Fight.”

By Chanda Temple

Tonya Allen ran her hand across her right breast and couldn’t believe it. A small lump sat beneath her fingertips.

“This couldn’t be cancer,’’ she thought. “Not me!’’

But a later visit with the doctor and a 3-D mammogram confirmed she had an estrogen-positive cyst, which would rise in her breast when she was on her period and go down when she went off her period.

Denial was strong that January morning in 2020 as the doctor suggested an option: “You should have a lumpectomy.’’ But Tonya needed more information before making such a big decision.

Tonya Allen is employed by Birmingham City Schools and works with students with dyslexia. (Photo provided by Tonya Allen)
Tonya Allen is employed by Birmingham City Schools and works with students with dyslexia. (Photo provided by Tonya Allen)

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From Naysayers to New Flavors, Sarah Cole Brings Egyptian Food to Rural Alabama

By Chanda Temple

The blood that runs through Sarah Cole’s veins is half Egyptian and half Southern, a blend that shows up in her food story.

Chef and writer Sarah Cole, from Greensboro, AL with her husband, Robert Fitzpatrick, and their son, Theo. (Photo by Chanda Temple)
Chef and writer Sarah Cole, from Greensboro, AL with her husband, Robert Fitzpatrick, and their son, Theo. (Photo by Chanda Temple)

That mix is what fueled her dream of bringing Egyptian food to Greensboro, a rural city in west-central Alabama, where fast food chains and meat-and-three restaurants appear across the landscape like dots on a domino. While friends supported her, some people questioned her vision. Their whispers got back to her: “Make sure she knows to include something very Southern on the menu because we are probably not going to like her spices too much.”

The words stung, but Sarah refused to let negativity stop her because they were just opinions, and opinions don’t build dreams. Courage does.

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Where Cherith Fluker Ate While Writing ‘Secret Birmingham’

By Chanda Temple

Cherith Glover Fluker walks into General coffee shop on Birmingham’s Clairmont Avenue and orders food that helped fuel her future as a first-time book author.

Coffee, black. Cinnamon roll, warmed.

She settles in at a small chestnut-colored table that’s flush against a huge window. Looking through the glass, the city street starts to stir as people walk their dogs or jog past for a morning run. It’s a scene that played on repeat for Cherith for almost a year as she visited the coffee shop six or seven times to jot down notes for, “Secret Birmingham: A Guide to the Weird, Wonderful and Obscure.”

Cherith Glover Fluker pauses for pic with her new book, "Secret Birmingham,'' inside the General coffee house, where she made the final decision to write her book. The project took a year, and she visited the shop several times to reflect on her writing process. (Photo by Chanda Temple)
Cherith Glover Fluker pauses for pic with her new book, “Secret Birmingham,” inside the General coffee house, where she made the final decision to write her book. The project took a year, and she visited the shop several times to reflect on her writing process. (Photo by Chanda Temple)

The book, which highlights well-known and not-so-well-known nuggets about the Magic City, was released on Aug. 1, which was a big day for Fluker. But an even bigger day for her was in April 2024 when she decided to stop letting her fears of wondering if she was “good enough” to write a book, get the best of her.

“This is my table when I come here,” she says, as steam rises from her coffee cup and sunlight streaming through the window sort of bounces off the glaze on the cinnamon roll. “This is where it all started.”

Cherith Glover Fluker loves the homemade pastries made daily at General, a coffee shop in Forest Park. Her favorite is the blueberry scone, bottom left. She also likes the cinnamon roll, top right, and the olive cake, top left. She has not tried the cheese danish, bottom right. (Photo by Chanda Temple)
Cherith Glover Fluker loves the homemade pastries made daily at General, a coffee shop in Forest Park. Her favorite is the blueberry scone, bottom left. She also likes the cinnamon roll, top right, and the olive cake, top left. She has not tried the cheese danish, bottom right. (Photo by Chanda Temple)

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