Ushering in a new year can be filled with excitement and anticipation as well as a feeling of renewal. It is with this spirit in mind that the Jewish Light is pleased to welcome a new digital columnist, Sheri Glantz. Glantz, 60, began writing “The Sunny Side of Life” in September of 2022 and quickly found a local following on social media.

“The initial reason I decided to start a blog was to challenge myself to expand the realm in which I typically write, which is poetry,” said Glantz. “Sitting down to brainstorm topics about which to write, it seemed like there were circumstances, ideas and anecdotes that might resonate with others.”

Apparently, she is right. Many of her posts have generated dozens of comments from readers who publicly support Glantz’s attempts to find the positive side of situations.

Starting tomorrow, Friday, Jan. 6th, the Morning Light will begin publishing Glantz’s work bi-monthly, starting with her first post from September.

Who is Sheri Glantz

Glantz was born in Houston, Texas in March of 1962 and grew up attending Beth Yeshurun a synagogue and Jewish Day School in Houston. She graduated from the University of Texas in 1983 with a B.S. in elementary and special education. She returned to Houston after college where she met St. Louis native and future Creve Coeur mayor Barry Glantz.

“We met in Houston where Barry worked as an architect for 3 years,” said Glantz. “I was working in special education when we got engaged in Texas and moved back to St. Louis.”

After settling into St. Louis, Glantz took classes for additional certifications and eventually got a master’s degree in curriculum and instruction in 1994 from National Louis University.

The Glantz family found a home at Congregation Shaare Emeth. Glantz continued her career in special education while remaining active in the local Jewish community volunteering with Women’s Philanthropy, the National Council of Jewish Women, Aish HaTorah, and the Jewish Women’s Society.

“I participate, weekly, in the Partners for Torah program through Aish HaTorah, and have been doing this since returning from my 2014 trip to Israel,” said Glantz. “I taught music at the Shirlee Green Preschool for about 11 years, then went back to my special education roots and worked one-on-one with a child who has Down syndrome. I currently devote my working hours to writing — books, speeches, poems and parodies for special occasions, and now, my blog.”

‘The Sunny Side of Life’

Like any column or blog, the writer must have a goal or a message to convey to readers. For Glantz, the message is simple: Life sometimes requires us to view things through a different lens to make sense, or find the meaning, of life situations.

“Something that I have learned since I began writing my blog is that even seemingly insignificant moments, for example – a dress code in a restaurant — can be meaningful and there is a story to be told, as well as an applicable ‘take-away’ from it,” said Glantz.  “In contrast, when faced with painful or uncomfortable moments, I hope to almost ‘normalize’ those challenges by letting others know that those experiences are part of life – but that we do not have to let them define us.  We get to choose the rest of our story or the next chapter of it.”

You can find Sheri Glantz’s column on alternating Fridays in The Morning Light and online.