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Social interaction is part of being a happy, healthy human being. But all too often, we get caught up with family and work. We forget to go outside and get connected to our neighbors.

Monsoon season always has a way of keeping Valley residents on their toes. Newcomers are always surprised by the storms’ ferocity, while longtime and native Valley residents tend to forget the damage they can cause.

We’ve all seen the progression from corded landlines to mobile phones, and from mobile phones to smartphones. Now we’re witnessing smart homes emerge, changing the way we live

s people become empty nesters or retire, they are finding themselves looking around at the space they occupy and realizing it no longer suits their needs.

The Valley’s real estate market is as hot as our soaring summer temperatures. Unique to Arizona, our real estate market is exceptionally strong for both buyers and sellers. This is a rare market opportunity that will benefit both sides of a transaction. This, in addition to low down-payment options and relaxed lending regulations, are attracting more buyers to the market. As a result, with more buyers, sellers are able to sell their homes for more money and in less time. This combination only adds to the traditionally busy Arizona summer market.

If you can finish this advertising jingle — “When it says Libby’s, Libby’s, Libby’s on the label, label, label, you will...” — you are most likely a baby boomer and can remember canned mush posing as vegetables that you could not even get the dog to eat.

To find the Shanghai Jewish Center on a recent trip to China, I drove by a guarded gatehouse, past a series of windowless buildings to a large white villa with an elegant marble staircase and grand portico. Inside the brightly lit foyer, a Chinese woman escorted me through heavy wooden doors to what must have been the living room, but was now furnished with eight tables and a wine cabinet. Two businessmen — one in a kippah — chatted quietly over their dinner.

Your child has turned 12, she’s in sixth grade, and suddenly your mailbox, or your inbox, is filling up with invitations. Some are plain and others extravagant, but all bear the same message – your child has been invited to a bar or bat mitzvah!

The Memorial Day weekend signals the start of the summer resort season here in the Valley. As the snowbirds head back north to escape the heat, resilient Arizonans get the opportunity to experience many of the beautiful luxury resorts the Valley has to offer – at steep discounts. Take a look at our Summer Staycation Resort Guide and find a summer resort package you and your family can enjoy.

It was 1980 and I was new at school. I wore purple my first day, because everyone liked purple, and I tried to be friendly without looking desperate.

NEW YORK – The campers wake up in their cabins on Friday morning, dress and go to breakfast. Next comes a range of activities – arts and crafts, archery, kickball.

As part of process to involve the public in identifying unmet needs of older adults in Maricopa County and how best to serve them, the Area Agency on Aging has scheduled public hearings at three Valley locations from March 6-8.

When my son announced that he was planning to ask his girlfriend to become his wife, my husband and I were ecstatic. We had waited a long time for this moment and quickly made arrangements to join the couple for the formal engagement.

Camp Shemesh holds ‘sneak peek’: Camp Shemesh will offer a preview of its activities at a sneak peek event 1:30-4 p.m. Sunday, Feb. 26, at the Valley of the Sun Jewish Community Center, 12701 N. Scottsdale Road, Scottsdale.

Jewish preschools in Phoenix and Scottsdale are making a point to include grandparents into their preschool world.

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In the summer of 2010, with just hours to go before campers arrived for the first day of the first season of Eden Village Camp, director Yoni Stadlin got some bad news from the health department: A procedural issue had delayed the issuance of a permit and the camp could not open as scheduled.

Everyone has that one friend or family member with a messy home so crammed with possessions, it’s ready to explode. The rooms and pantry are disorganized, and objects are strewn across the house. They say they will clean it up, but year after year, you attend the holiday party and the house is a big mess. What better gift for that person than a way to get their home and bulging closets organized?

This story is about Magda Herzberger. She is a concentration camp survivor who is 90 years old and is unique. Some concentration camp survivors understandably do not write and speak about the Holocaust. It is too difficult. But Magda does. She is speaking at a private university in Phoenix this month.

As the adult child of a senior, Alison Betts watched her widowed mother become more and more frustrated trying to find and schedule service providers to come to her home.

Two new kosher cookbooks provide new delicious recipes for the holidays: “Kosher Taste” by Amy Stopnicki and “Kosher By Design Brings It Home” by Susie Fishbein.

If you have had a long year of cooking for family, friends and children, and you need a break from the effort cooking a full Thanksgiving meal requires, local restaurants have come to the rescue. Below are several Thanksgiving offers from local restaurants in the Greater Phoenix area.

Two weeks before Hanukkah, Temple Chai in Phoenix will give homeless families the gift of hospitality.

Goodmans Interior Structures recently hosted the 2016 Goodmans Chair Hockey Tournament to benefit First Place AZ, a sister nonprofit to Southwest Autism Research & Resource Center (SARRC). Previous events – the company held similar tournaments from 2002 to 2006 – benefitted SARRC, an agency that provides support for children with autism and their families.

I think most, if not all, of us are sick and tired of politics, the elections and seeing how much money is wasted on political ads, etc. While we generally have little or no control over how that money is spent, we actually do have a lot of control over how our state taxes are allocated.

Sisters Tina “Red” Pennington (a warm-and fuzzy stay-at-home mom) and Mandy “Black” Williams (an extremely pragmatic retired corporate executive) – co-authors of  “What I Learned About Life When My Husband Got Fired!” – discuss the concept of giving.

Life expectancy around the globe has risen dramatically in recent years, resulting in increased demands for better health-related devices, solutions and services. Israel, with the Technion-Israel Institute of Technology at the helm, is meeting those demands.

With the High Holidays behind us and a “clean slate” before us, goal-setting is in order. I’d like to share a few resources to assist you in setting goals for healthier living. “The Slight Edge” by Jeff Olson and “Younger Next Year” by Chris Crowley and Henry S. Lodge, M.D. are two books that provide the how and the why for making good health a priority.