The Ultimate Social Network

If you’re trying to create a community of people to network with or if you’re looking for a job, you probably use LinkedIn. Facebook and Twitter likely serve the long and short of maintaining the superfluosities of your personal and social life.

When it comes to life’s deeper and more profound issues, there is a social network that delivers messages that matter most. If you’ve had a family member or a friend who was seriously ill, you’ve likely followed his or her journey on CaringBridge.org.

I’ve had the honor of following more than a few friends' final journeys on CaringBridge. I am, sadly, following the final messages of a beautiful and talented young woman in Sioux Falls. She contracted lung cancer two years ago and has fought the brave fight since then, but it appears that the ravages of the disease (she never smoked) are winning out. Indeed, I just found out through CaringBridge that lovely Doreen passed away.

What’s amazing are the incredibly essential truths she shared with everyone on her CaringBridge posts. And, those of her loving husband and young daughter are just as heart-wrenching and warming. Their willingness to share their most private experiences allows us to face the inevitability of death and dying with less shock and more acceptance, I think.

I had this very same experience as I followed my long-time colleague and friend, Brian Anderson, as he posted for nine months, before he passed away in March. The CaringBridge community that he established, including over 20,000 guestbook posts by friends and admirers, was a game-changer for me. Brian’s honest, poignant, and extraordinarily open chronicle of his final months literally transformed my perceptions of, well, almost everything.

You may not be aware that CaringBridge is headquartered right here in the Twin Cities. They are an asset of the highest order and I thank them for what they’ve done.

Comments

[Vivian]

Gary:

Thank you for writing such a wonderful article on the CaringBridge. Like yourself, I have followed a number of friends and their various health struggles on CaringBridge. It is such a good vehicle to stay up to date on their health problems and to send a message to close friends.

I can't imagine a better social network vehicle than CaringBridge since it is directed towards caring about others . . . unlike most social networks which are self-serving. My thanks to "Loose" for developing this powerful network which has touched many lives.

[loose]

Seriously, it's hard to think of a social media or a digital product that is more of a meaningful game changer in people's lives than CaringBridge. It provides a chance for us to participate and share first hand the deepest and most relevant issues and events in the lives of our friends and family. It's really quite incredible and a wonderful tool.

[Sona Mehring]

As founder and CEO of CaringBridge--it's very humbling to hear about the communities that CaringBridge enables. It is also very inspiring! To see the love, support, hope, healing, and connection that happens on a CaringBridge site is the reason we exist, the reason we are supported through donations.

Thanks for your blog post, Gary--the Twin Cities has been a wonderful home for CaringBridge, even though CaringBridge reaches around the globe. Reading your your comments is very meaningful! Thanks!

[Jennifer]

We have used CaringBridge in the past to keep family and friends apprised of our youngest's medical adventures since her birth 13 years ago. I have also followed numerous friends' journeys either through similar adventures to ours or more recently a high school friend's journey through cancer that led to her death. Every time I read a journal entry of Nichole's or one of her family's I felt as though I were there and had the opportunity to hold her hand! It is heart-wrenching to read but warming to know that hundreds of miles away my sentiments can be "heard" and responded to almost immediately. Being miles away from our CaringBridge neighbors it is a wonderful tool that keeps us close and knowing how everyone is doing at a moment's notice. I'm sorry to hear you lost your neighbor in Sioux Falls! However, I am very glad to hear that CaringBridge has continued to succeed in its very worthy cause.