Streetlight Magazine | Susan Shafarzek | Activity

Susan Shafarzek wrote a new post

Fri, 27 Mar 2026 06:00:38 -0400

Talking to Toads by Tutt Stapp-McKiernan My memories of the time when my parents and I lived in a renovated gristmill are of course dim—I had only been two when we moved there and four when w […]

Susan Shafarzek wrote a new post

Fri, 27 Feb 2026 13:00:14 -0500

Living by Water by Martha Graham Wiseman Once I lived in a house by a river, in a deep narrow valley. The house was dark and damp, the river enticing. A broad lawn, anchored by an ancient […]

Susan Shafarzek wrote a new post

Fri, 30 Jan 2026 11:00:56 -0500

A Very Ordinary Day by MJE Clubb There were some signs, of course, that the world was ending. Sitting in the nurses’ station I sipped instant coffee, listening to a float nurse o […]

Susan Shafarzek wrote a new post

Mon, 26 Jan 2026 09:00:47 -0500

Just One Thumb by Gayla Mills I’ve been using an old refurbished desktop, just a couple hundred bucks. It’s okay—except for its geriatric pace and annoying habit of turning itsel […]

Susan Shafarzek wrote a new post

Mon, 05 Jan 2026 14:00:01 -0500

Feeding Horses and Other Things by Billie Hinton When she walks out to the barn for the evening feed, what she notices first is how dark it is already, and how, with the darkness, a stillness sets […]

Susan Shafarzek wrote a new post

Fri, 02 Jan 2026 13:00:32 -0500

The Second Christmas by Mary Trvalik I missed my son’s voice this Christmas. Of all of us, Steven’s voice was the deepest. And that includes all the voices of our best-entire-family fri […]

Susan Shafarzek wrote a new post

Fri, 05 Dec 2025 11:00:59 -0500

One Small Gift by Anne Merritt I learned how mean boys could be on the school bus during my first week of third grade. It was the first year my sister, in kindergarten, was riding […]

Susan Shafarzek wrote a new post

Fri, 14 Nov 2025 13:00:38 -0500

Tackling the Digital Afterlife by Elizabeth Bird “Hi, lol, xd. Hello ppl, xd.” My sister forwarded me this cryptic Skype message, received from our father on his ninety-sixth birthday. He’ […]

Susan Shafarzek wrote a new post

Mon, 03 Nov 2025 12:00:47 -0500

Candide's Garden by Susan Shafarzek Long, long ago when I was young, someone I knew told me how much it meant to her to read Candide. In fact, she read it over and over. It was […]

Susan Shafarzek wrote a new post

Fri, 24 Oct 2025 12:00:30 -0400

Boxes Left Unchecked by Presley Ackeret You’ve been using ChatGPT as a therapist a little too much lately. We joke about it on occasion—we’ve lovingly named him “Chad,” you share, ch […]

Susan Shafarzek wrote a new post

Fri, 03 Oct 2025 11:00:04 -0400

A Day of Firsts by David Stern The first time that my brother and I had gone sailing without Dad. The first time we checked the weather and set a course like real navigators. The […]

Susan Shafarzek wrote a new post

Fri, 05 Sep 2025 10:00:17 -0400

Combined Training by Amelia Zahm Amelia Zahm is the third place winner of Streetlight’s 2025 Essay/Memoir Contest Long strides carry her forward. I hear joy, that annoying […]

Susan Shafarzek wrote a new post

Sun, 17 Aug 2025 11:00:26 -0400

Gradoo by Richard Key Etymology uncertain. That is how the dictionary deals with the origins of the word gradoo, tip-toeing lightly around a word you wouldn’t want to s […]

Susan Shafarzek wrote a new post

Fri, 11 Jul 2025 13:00:11 -0400

From a Persian Kitchen by Ruth Knezevich Ruth Knezevich is the 2nd place winner of Streetlight’s 2025 Essay/Memoir Contest Prepare fresh herbs—4 bunches parsley, 3 bunches cilantro, 2 b […]

Susan Shafarzek wrote a new post

Mon, 07 Jul 2025 12:00:42 -0400

Aritifice or Intelligence by E. H. Jacobs So, I found myself in a restaurant with my wife, two friends, and one friend’s first cousin whom I had not previously met. After drinks and a […]

Susan Shafarzek wrote a new post

Fri, 04 Jul 2025 11:00:07 -0400

Final Thoughts by Christopher Ghattas Christopher Ghattas is the 1st place winner of Streetlight’s 2025 Essay/Memoir Contest Whenever someone tells me that they, too, are dying, […]

Susan Shafarzek wrote a new post

Fri, 13 Jun 2025 12:00:01 -0400

Stop the Car by Scott Weaver 1842 On a Midwestern tour to drum up support for a second presidential run, Martin Van Buren had the bad fortune of passing through […]

Susan Shafarzek wrote a new post

Fri, 23 May 2025 10:00:59 -0400

It's Not a Madeleine But by Rachel Lutwick Deaner I have always been sensitive to smells and tastes, but this was too much. On a four day getaway with my husband in NYC, the city of my girlhood, I […]

Susan Shafarzek wrote a new post

Fri, 02 May 2025 10:00:20 -0400

Stolen Summers by Lauren Dunn I’m sweeping up a pile of sand from the hardwood floor. It’s everywhere. Under each throw mat and area rug. In the corners of the room and hiding ben […]

Susan Shafarzek wrote a new post

Mon, 28 Apr 2025 13:04:48 -0400

We Have Winning Essays by Susan Shafarzek The annual contest is a big event here at Streetlight’s essay/memoir section. We never know what our invitation is going to bring, but it’s always i […]

Susan Shafarzek wrote a new post

Mon, 14 Apr 2025 12:00:50 -0400

Asa Fowler by Miles Fowler I am leery of ancestor worship, but the more I research the history of my great-great grandfather, Asa Fowler, the more I find admirable about […]

Susan Shafarzek wrote a new post

Fri, 11 Apr 2025 09:00:19 -0400

Cicadian Rhythm by Quincy Gray McMichael Quincy Gray McMichael has earned an Honorable Mention in Streetlight’s 2024 Essay/Memoir Contest As I stretch my shoulders, arms aloft, t […]

Susan Shafarzek wrote a new post

Fri, 21 Mar 2025 12:00:06 -0400

Death Reprise by Lauren Dunn My mom died sometime last year. And it’s funny, I couldn’t tell you exactly when it happened. Well, it’s not so much funny as it is strange. Becau […]

Susan Shafarzek wrote a new post

Fri, 28 Feb 2025 11:00:49 -0500

Slugger by Walter Lawn I know a story they left out of her obituary. In the late 1970s and early 80s I worked in the Development Department at The Franklin Institute, the […]

Susan Shafarzek wrote a new post

Mon, 10 Feb 2025 12:00:09 -0500

The Grass is Always Greener by Miles Fowler Growing up in Massachusetts in the 1950s and early 1960s, my schoolmates and I used to watch a children’s television show called Big Brother. At n […]

Susan Shafarzek wrote a new post

Fri, 07 Feb 2025 08:00:21 -0500

My Funny Little Valentine by Lucinda Guard HEART OF GOLD The calendar waves its pages, and announces it’s time for our annual tradition of tapping trees and sugaring. Oh wait: not you! No more […]

Susan Shafarzek wrote a new post

Fri, 17 Jan 2025 13:00:05 -0500

The Rauschenberg Retrospective by Ingrid Jandrewski Studio by Katy Nicosia. CC license. When we first enter the Robert Rauschenberg retrospective at the Tate Modern, my parents’ eyes brighten as if t […]

Susan Shafarzek wrote a new post

Mon, 13 Jan 2025 14:00:51 -0500

The Last Time by Cheryl Somers Aubin We never know when it will be the last time, do we? If I had known, I would have paid closer attention to the story mom shared about her […]

Susan Shafarzek wrote a new post

Fri, 20 Dec 2024 13:00:56 -0500

Cockroaches in Coffee Pots by Rebecca Watkins Rebecca Watkins has earned an Honorable Mention in Streetlight’s 2024 Essay/Memoir Contest “As Gregor Samsa awoke one morning from a troubled dre […]

Susan Shafarzek wrote a new post

Mon, 16 Dec 2024 11:00:54 -0500

The Trivet by Nancy Halgren Through a dimly lit haze, I see myself in my adult son’s psych ward room, gathering his things into a paper bag so we can check out. I place his c […]

Susan Shafarzek wrote a new post

Fri, 29 Nov 2024 12:00:41 -0500

Deus Absconditus by Philip Newman Lawton Philip Newman Lawton has earned an Honorable Mention in Streetlight’s 2024 Essay/Memoir Contest My sister Margaret is dead. Her body has gone […]

Susan Shafarzek wrote a new post

Mon, 18 Nov 2024 13:00:41 -0500

Shoe Story by J. Tara Scott I LOVE shoes. I have loved shoes for as long as I can remember, but it wasn’t until I became an adult that I had the disposable income to explore what […]

Susan Shafarzek wrote a new post

Fri, 08 Nov 2024 13:00:28 -0500

The Earth is Round by Karen Dolan Karen Dolan has earned an Honorable Mention in Streetlight’s 2024 Essay/Memoir Contest I had seen the penis on the ultrasound, I knew I was h […]

Susan Shafarzek wrote a new post

Fri, 18 Oct 2024 11:00:26 -0400

The Oppenheimer Retrospective by Katherine Slaughter Katherine Slaughter has earned an Honorable Mention in Streetlight’s 2024 Essay/Memoir Contest Oppenheimer: Back to the Future In the movie […]

Susan Shafarzek wrote a new post

Mon, 23 Sep 2024 10:00:16 -0400

The Thinly Disguised Autobiography by Miles Fowler By the time I reached my teens, I was taken with the idea of writing a fictionalized autobiography, but as my college roommate, Barry, observed, no […]

Susan Shafarzek wrote a new post

Fri, 20 Sep 2024 11:00:56 -0400

Tongues of Fire by Sandra Hopkins Sandra Hopkins is the 1st place winner of Streetlight’s 2024 Essay/Memoir Contest How did my grandpa, Papa Hop, know that it would be […]

Susan Shafarzek wrote a new post

Fri, 23 Aug 2024 10:00:20 -0400

Blindsided by Jeanne Malmgren Jeanne Malmgren is the 2nd place winner of Streetlight’s 2024 Essay/Memoir Contest This should be a quick in-and-out, I’m thinking. As we wa […]

Susan Shafarzek wrote a new post

Fri, 26 Jul 2024 13:00:52 -0400

Stop Shivering by Avery Roche Avery Roche is the 3rd place winner of Streetlight’s 2024 Essay/Memoir Contest Pain. This is a word I am intimately familiar with. In fact, it […]

Susan Shafarzek wrote a new post

Mon, 08 Jul 2024 10:00:37 -0400

The Shooter by Martha Clarkson Today we drive north for an hour to find the snow geese migration. The geese are in the area for six months, so it shouldn’t be hard. Migration, as i […]

Susan Shafarzek wrote a new post

Fri, 28 Jun 2024 10:00:14 -0400

God Bless the 800-Calorie Sandwich by Angela Townsend So, here’s the thing about the Meemaw cookbooks. I have no desire to make any of this stuff. But it gives me metaphysical peace to know that s […]

Susan Shafarzek wrote a new post

Fri, 31 May 2024 13:01:30 -0400

Moosehead by John Matthews I had just helped a young neighbor, much younger than me, dig an annoying stump out of his yard. We were tired and muddy, but he invited me into […]

Susan Shafarzek wrote a new post

Mon, 27 May 2024 08:00:21 -0400

Under the River Bridge by Paul C. Rosenblatt The summer before I turned fifteen I often biked with my two best friends to Chicago’s River Park, thirty acres of grass, trees, paths, playgrounds, a […]

Susan Shafarzek wrote a new post

Fri, 03 May 2024 11:00:03 -0400

My Father Unknown by Laura Shaine How do you knock on a door that, all your life, you imagined opening? I stood at a fateful address on the edge of the historic district of Old […]

Susan Shafarzek wrote a new post

Mon, 29 Apr 2024 10:00:34 -0400

Another Season of Winners by Susan Shafarzek We’re happy to announce the 2024 Streetlight Essay/Memoir contest winners. With an emphasis on memoir, the winners are as follows: First Prize w […]

Susan Shafarzek wrote a new post

Fri, 05 Apr 2024 11:00:48 -0400

Angels by Margarita Meyendorf We were a half-hour drive from our destination and already thinking of the cool lake we were going to jump into and the scrumptious lunch we had […]

Susan Shafarzek wrote a new post

Fri, 08 Mar 2024 12:00:14 -0500

Weeds Don’t Weep but Gardeners Do. by Nancy Halgren Diligent was the only word that could be applied to my father’s pursuit of dandelions in our front yard. Clearly Iremember him in his worn work b […]

Susan Shafarzek wrote a new post

Fri, 09 Feb 2024 12:00:09 -0500

There's a Beer that Tastes Like June 1981 by Harry Lee James Once upon a time I was a soldier living in a small town on the eastern most edge of what was known at the time as West Germany. To the East, a […]

Susan Shafarzek wrote a new post

Mon, 05 Feb 2024 07:00:12 -0500

Le Francais et Moi by Miles Fowler The other day, I was watching a TV program set during World War II. An American bomber group was about to drop leaflets over Nazi-occupied territory. […]

Susan Shafarzek wrote a new post

Fri, 12 Jan 2024 13:00:44 -0500

Kali Gandaki by Connie Clark I have a fear of heights. It is a fear of depths, too. Stand on the edge of the Grand Canyon and look down? No, no matter how beautiful it may be. Sit […]

Susan Shafarzek wrote a new post

Mon, 01 Jan 2024 14:00:59 -0500

Remedy for an Excited Amygdala by Billie Hinton On the first cold night since early last spring fog rolls onto the farm like a tide. I wake to a cloud buckling in the arena, around the barn, down […]