Caringbridge

A resident in St. James wrote this in our local newsletter:

"CaringBridge is a wonderfully non-invasive way of maintaining contact and support during times of illness, injury, hospitalization, or any other form of crisis. "It is a non-profit organization which offers free, easy-to-create web sites that help connect family and friends when they need it most."

I learned about it very recently when a friend from Vermont was hospitalized in Boston for a very serious surgery and lengthy hospital stay. Rather than each of his friends and family calling daily, CaringBridge set up a web site in which his wife can report his daily progress to anyone who goes to the web site. Additionally, family and friends can write messages of caring and support back for her to read at the hospital in down moments. It is a much easier way for her to keep all friends and family informed daily without having to email or call each of them individually, and it is wonderfully supportive for her to read, in her own time, daily messages from people who care but do not want to disturb her. Perhaps equally important is the fact that it is a much more direct and reliable source of information than word of mouth from friend to friend.

Our next door neighbor recently died of cancer and I recall how we and our neighbors wrestled over how to stay in touch with his family but did not want to be intrusive through frequent visits and phone calls. A site like Caringbridge would have helped. I think it is a great idea and suggest all make a note of it for future reference.