Updating Family & Friends

I just learned about www.CaringBridge.org, a site that provides free websites to keep family and friends updated in case of major illness.

We set up a Caring Bridge website for my father-in-law after his open heart surgery for an aortal dissection. My mother-in-law and other family members were inundated by calls and emails as family, friends, neighbors, and coworkers learned what had happened. Once the website was up, the calls and emails dropped drastically, allowing them to focus on my father-in-law.

Here are some of the features I liked about the Caring Bridge site:

• There were many different security levels for the site. We chose the lowest security setting, which means that anyone with the website address could see it without registering or needing a password. I liked that the sites aren't searchable by Google and other search engines so someone is not going to find the website without being given the address.
  

• The Journal allows people to register for emails when updates are posted.
  
  
• The Guestbook allows people to write comments, which we printed out and took to the hospital for my father-in-law and mother-in-law to read.