1st Place
ElderCare Online
http://www.ec-online.net/

With a weekly email newsletter, The Eldercare Beacon, the Eldercare
Forum message board, scheduled chats hosted by other caregivers,
professionals and guest moderators, and tons of information on the
site, ElderCare Online is truly a beacon for caregivers. Impressive
awards and reviews received by this site include: Alzheimer's Site of
the Week at About.com, featured on CNN/Time, in Time Magazine, and in
Smart Money. If you haven't already, you'll want to subscribe to the
very informative Eldercare Beacon newsletter to keep up to date on
all that is going on at ElderCare Online and so you won't miss out
on some of the best articles you can read about issues involved in
Alzheimer's and caregiving.

2nd Place
Caregiver's Army
http://www.ec-online.net/

The Alzheimer's Disease Caregiver's Army, founded September 1999, has
launched a worldwide petition drive in support of finding a cure for
Alzheimer's Disease and for helping caregivers. Their goal is to
collect a million signatures, and several months ago spokesperson,
Carolyn Haynali, presented the first 20,000 signatures in Washington
DC. The Army has an impressively professional Web site, providing
Alzheimer's information, statistics about this disease, and featuring
photos of Carolyn meeting Congressmen. The Army mailing list/support
group which can be subscribed to at
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/CAREGIVERSARMY
Hearing Carolyn interviewed last year on the Don & Carla Show,
I must say I was impressed, and I can't think of a better
spokesperson. For her husband, Chuck, who has Alzheimer's, and for
caregivers and patients everywhere, Carolyn and the Caregiver's Army


3rd Place
Alzheimer's Outreach
http://www.zarcrom.com/users/alzheimers/

A totally amazing site, one that inspires awe and wonder every time
we visit, is Marsha Penington's (aka Tay, or Taylor Austin)
Alzheimer's Outreach. Her informational directories on Alzheimer's,
other dementias, and caregiving issues includes around 250 full-text
documents. There is a poetry gallery full of poetry by Steven
Stoker, Jerry Ham, Brenda Race, and Dorothy Womack, and Marsha has
provided Web space for the various works of other caregivers and
Alzheimer's patients throughout her site. At the Alzheimer's
Outreach site, family caregivers and patients alike have shared their
photos, memories, memorials, thoughts, and the list goes on and on.
There is so much this site offers, it's difficult to even begin to
describe it all. Marsha's own story of her mother's Alzheimer's,
along with beautifully designed backgrounds and graphics by Marsha
herself, add a personal touch and intensify the sense of awe we feel
as we visit this wonderful site. Futhermore, Alzheimer's Outreach is
also the large and very active local community service/support group
that is coordinated by Marsha in the area where she lives. Locally
through this group and around the world via the Internet, Marsha's
Alzheimer's Outreach is for so many an excellent source of
information and support at all stages of the Alzheimer's/caregiving
journey.


4th Place
Undying Love
http://denver.rockymountainnews.com/undyinglove/

Undying Love was created by Patrick Davidson, a journalist, about his
mother who died of Alzheimer's. Undying Love tells the story of the
toll this disease took on his mother and the whole family through
excellent black and white photos, the wonderfully written story, and
even Real Audio throughout so we can listen as Patrick shares his
feelings. Undying Love is the one of the most beautiful sites I've
ever seen. The emotions all of us know as caregivers and family
members are expressed so completely, and the beautiful way this story
is told moves me to tears, again and again, every time I visit this
wonderful site. Patrick's site is a moving memorial to his mother and
a place where we can go where we can say "Yes, I feel those
emotions", shed some tears, and heal.


5th Place
Alzheimer Europe
http://www.alzheimer-europe.org/

Alzheimer Europe's aim is raising awareness of all forms of dementia
through coordination and cooperation between Alzheimer and related
disorders organizations in Europe and to organized support for
patients and caregivers. Alzheimer's Europe serves thirty-one member
organizations in twenty-six countries. Their excellently designed Web
site, featuring information on Alzheimer's and other dementias and
tips for caregivers, is available in ten languages.

6th Place
The Ribbon
http://www.theribbon.com/

The Ribbon Newsletter, the inspiration for this Web site, began in
January 1998, with the mission of providing information and support
for caregivers dealing with Alzheimer's and dementia.  The teal
colored ribbon was chosen to help raise an awareness of AD and
symbolizes the connection of caregivers in their fight against this
illness. The Ribbon is a Suite 101 Four-Star Rated Site, has been an
Empowering Caregivers Site of the Month, and the newsletter was
awarded People's Connection Newsletter of the Week by America Online.

7th Place
AlZwell
http://www.alzwell.com/

Susan Grossman was caregiver to her mother-in-law, and this award-
winning site grew out of that experience. Alzwell includes many
interactive features, such as "The Anger Wall", and is the home of
the Caregiver Webring. Alzwell is packed full of information and
opportunities for others to share their stories. Susan's site has
been highly reviewed and received several prestigious awards, even
appearing in Yahoo Internet Life's Touched by the Net. After her
mother-in-law died, Susan continued regularly updating her site and
keeps people informed about updates through her Keepin' Up with
ALZwell newsletter. More recently the site has also joined with
ElderCare Online, displaying an even more professional look and is
providing more services to caregivers.

8th Place -
Mary's Place
http://www.angelfire.com/ok4/mari5113/index.html

Mary Lockhart has early-onset Alzheimer's. Before she was diagnosed,
she had managed a licensed day care for infants for fifteen years.
She misses the babies she cared for, but she has three little dogs
which she enjoys, as well as having an acquarium, and feeding birds
and squirrels. She is doing a wonderful job telling her story on her
home page, Mary's Place, where she shares her daily journal, family
photos, memories from her childhood, links to other sites, and a
chats for other patients like herself. Mary says "This is a very
lonely disease. If I can help one person with my page it will all be
worth it."

9th Place
My Journey
http://www.zarcrom.com/users/alzheimers/chip.html

Chip Gerber is 55, and he was diagnosed with Alzheimer's in 1997. He
worked for over 25 years as a licensed social worker. His daily
journal is online, accented by the always beautiful designs of
Webmaster Marsha Penington of Alzheimer's Outreach. Chip's journal
is unique in that it is not just an account of what he does every
day, but it is a collection of his thoughts, feelings, and
reflections on his journey with Alzheimer's. He expresses his
appreciation of and delight in ordinary things, including his senses
of smell, sight, and touch as he cherishes nature and the changing
seasons. Chip gives us a beautiful way to look at life, in spite of
our losses.

10th Place
Poems, Prayers & Promises
http://www.geocities.com/brace03/Mom.html

Brenda cared for her mother at home until she entered a nursing home
in December 1998. She was still with her every chance she got until
her mother died about a year later in December 1999. Brenda's site,
Poems, Prayers, and Promises, is unique in that it gives a positive
look at the nursing home experience, through her poetry and photos.
Brenda has collected her thoughts, memories, photos, and poems
from all stages in her journey with her mother and Alzheimer's,
and she has illustrated them all so wonderfully with beautiful
backgrounds and graphics. She also has included some poems that
Dorothy Womack wrote for her during her times of grief after her
mother's entrance into the nursing home and as the disease
progressed, taking more and more of her mother from her. It's a
wonderful site, full of beautiful poetry, great photos and
graphics, and tremendous spiritual insight.

My apologies for not posting this sooner.  I could have sworn I
already did several months ago, but apparently I didn't.  My husband
says I scare him sometimes.  As a daughter of an Alzheimer's victim,
I scare myself sometimes.  ;-)  I am a rather busy person, an "absent
minded professor" (as a librarian I am a faculty member at a community
college), and am stressed-out at times, so maybe I can blame it on
that.  ;-)  But, hey - whatever comes - I'm not really afraid, and
one reason is all of the great EOADS on the Top Sites list, with the
stories you've shared, and all of the rest of you who share your
stories or information about this disease.  :-)

Happy Spring, Everyone!

Brenda
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Brenda Parris Sibley ~ A Year to Remember...
www.zarcrom.com/users/yeartorem/
author of Waiting for the Morning, iUniverse.com ISBN:0-595-18782-X
www.iuniverse.com/bookstore/book_detail.asp?isbn=0%2D595%2D18782%2DX
Help for the Caring, iUniverse.com ISBN: 0-595-25356-3
www.iuniverse.com/bookstore/book_detail.asp?isbn=0%2D595%2D25356%2D3
Owner, Top Alzheimer's/Caregiving Sites
new.topsitelists.com/bestsites/bpsibley/topsites.html
Editor, Alzheimer's Disease Topic at Suite101
www.suite101.com/welcome.cfm/alzheimers_disease
Blogger, http://www.bloggingnetwork.com/Blogs/Affil/?
3027/Blog.aspx/after/
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

February 2002
Successful Aging
http://www.acsu.buffalo.edu/~drstall/

Dr. Robert Stall is Clinical Assistant Professor, SUNY--Buffalo
School of Medicine and the Division of Geriatrics and Gerontology,
Buffalo, NY.  His Web site, which features pictures his grandmother
Goldie, an Alzheimer's victim, and his other grandparents, provides a
wealth of information about Alzheimer's, aging, and geriatrics. Among
the helpful information provided by Dr. Stall are slide shows on
the "Physiology of Aging" and "Principles of Geriatrics" and flash
cards concerning care of the aged including "The Ten Absolutes of
Caregiving for Alzheimer's Patients".  Many helpful links are
provided, including a variety of assessment tools.  Professionals and
family caregivers alike will find information and support on Dr.
Stall's very informative Web site.

March 2002
Joe's Quest for Alzheimer's
http://members.aol.com/_ht_a/joesjourney/myhomepage//profile.html

In 2000 Joe, an Alzheimer's patient, traveled to 48 states in an
informal effort to educate the public about dementia. He attended the
ten day Alzheimer World Congress 2000 in Washington, DC. In July of
that year, he was featured on television evening news programs in
eight major cities and appeared in several newspaper articles
about  "JOE'S QUEST, A Journey across America to Find a Cure for
Alzheimer's." Along the way, Joe visited many people in nursing
homes, other facilities,  and churches. Several radio stations
carried news of Joe's Journey.  Joe and his care partner, Penny, are
in the process of writing several books.

April 2002
Alzheimer Europe
http://www.alzheimer-europe.org/

Alzheimer Europe's aim is raising awareness of all forms of dementia
through coordination and cooperation between Alzheimer and related
disorders organizations in Europe and to organized support for
patients and caregivers. Alzheimer's Europe serves thirty-one member
organizations in twenty-six countries. Their excellently designed Web
site, featuring information on Alzheimer's and other dementias and
tips for caregivers, is available in ten languages.

May 2002
Alice's Place
http://www.geocities.com/allieyoung1/Alices_Journals.html

Alice was diagnosed with Alzheimer's three years ago.  Through her
photo album, she introduces us to home and the smiling faces of her
family.  She says, "I have 5 wonderful children who have been very
supportive along this journey."  Alice also introduces us to her
friends page where we see many others we've may have met online,
other early-onset dementia patients with Web sites of their own.
Alice's her journal lets us explore the thoughts and day-to-day life
of one who is in the early stages of this disease. As I read it, I am
struck with awe at what we are observing-- so many early-onset
Alzheimer's and related dementia patients opening their lives and
sharing their journeys with us.


June 2002
You told Me it's Not Contagious
http://www.angelfire.com/fl/capnbud/index.contagious.html

"Sometimes Ya' Gotta Laugh. . .To Keep From Cryin'" says Cap'n Bud.
This is his online book that tells the story of his mother-in-law's
Alzheimer's and how he and his family have dealt with this disease.
As Cap'n Bud introduces us to his family, we see, here's another
family, of individuals, yes, but yet so much like the rest of us.
Here is another family touched by Alzheimer's, and through all the
everyday events we share, it is good to find some humor in the things
the Alzheimer's patient does. Humor helps, but some of us,
unfortunately, can't see the humor until person with Alzheimer's is
gone. It's wonderful that Cap'n Bud and his family can see now
that "Sometimes Ya' Gotta Laugh..."

July 2002
Partner's Program
http://fisher.mgh.harvard.edu/alzheimers/

The Partner's Program's mission is to bring together researchers,
clinicians, and others interested in rapidly expanding the work being
done to care for people suffering from Alzheimer's disease and
related neurodegenerative disorders.  They are involved in
Alzheimer's research at many levels: from benchtop research, to
participating in clinical trials for prospective therapeutic agents,
to hosting seminars and conferences aimed at building the core
knowledge of those involved in research and caregiving.  The web site
includes publications, news, announcements of upcoming events, and
information for caregivers and patients.

August 2002
My Journey
http://www.zarcrom.com/users/alzheimers/chip.html

Chip is 56, and he was diagnosed with Alzheimer's in 1997. He worked
for over 25 years as a licensed social worker. His daily journal is
online, accented by the always beautiful designs of Webmaster Marsha
Penington of Alzheimer's Outreach. Chip's journal is unique in that
it is not just an account of what he does every day, but it is a
collection of his thoughts, feelings, and reflections on his journey
with Alzheimer's. He expresses his appreciation of and delight in
ordinary things, including his senses of smell, sight, and touch as
he cherishes nature and the changing seasons. Chip gives us a
beautiful way to look at life, in spite of our losses, as Alzheimer's
patients, caregivers, or anyone-- as each of us eventually will
suffer some losses in life. Beautifully written, Chip's "My Journey"
is a wonderful site to visit, helping us realize and count our
blessings and to be thankful for all we have.

September 2002
Empowering Caregivers
http://www.care-givers.com/

Gail R. Mitchell has built a safe nurturing site for all caregivers
focused on providing practical emotional and spiritual support with
tools for self-empowerment.  Her site is an interactive community
with scheduled chats and forums, and a wealth of opportunities are
offered: expert columns, articles by top authors in the areas of
aging, caregiving and motivation, journal exercises, a newsletter, a
healing circle of prayer, spotlights, humor, alternative healing, and
inspiration. Empowering Caregivers is a huge site, full of
information and support, which offers those who care  choices for
forgiveness, healing and love.

October 2002
A Tribute to Arlene Francis
http://www.arlenefrancis.com/

Arlene Francis, best known as a television actress who starred for
twenty-five years on What's My Line, also had a successful career
spanning fifty years on radio, the Broadway stage, and on film. She
also had Alzheimer's disease. This site was established in May 2000
as a tribute to Arlene. One year later, on May 31, 2001, she died at
age 93. Her tribute site, includes her biography, timeline, photo
gallery, her art, and more, including Alzheimer's disease information
and news. It's a beautiful site and a wonderful tribute and memorial
to this remarkable woman.

November 2002
Alzheimer's Association WA
http://www.alzheimers.asn.au/

The Alzheimer's Association of Western Australia "seeks to represent
and support individuals with dementia and their carers, and advance
their interests at a personal, community and political level."  Their
site provides numerous documents about the history of the Association
since its beginning in 1981 and information about Alzheimer's and
related dementia for caregivers and about local support and
counseling services.  A message board is provided so that visitors
can "Ask the experts", and caregivers are encouraged to send in their
stories for the Association's quarterly newsletter.

I hope you all have been having a wonderful holiday season!  Happy
New Year & God bless you all!

Brenda
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Brenda Parris Sibley
A Year to Remember... http://www.zarcrom.com/users/yeartorem/
author of Waiting for the Morning, iUniverse.com ISBN:0-595-18782-X
http://www.iuniverse.com/bookstore/book_detail.asp?isbn=0%2D595%
2D18782%2DX
Help for the Caring, iUniverse.com ISBN: 0-595-25356-3
http://www.iuniverse.com/bookstore/book_detail.asp?isbn=0%2D595%
2D25356%2D3
http://bpsibley.150m.com/wmf.html
Owner, Top Alzheimer's/Caregiving Sites
http://new.topsitelists.com/bestsites/bpsibley/topsites.html
Editor, Alzheimer's Disease Topic at Suite101
http://www.suite101.com/welcome.cfm/alzheimers_disease
Editor, Top Alzheimer's/Caregiving Sites Community at iUniverse
http://communities.iuniverse.com/bin/circle.asp?circleid=6622
Owner, Top Alzheimer's/Caregiving Sites Newsletter
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/TopADCaregivingSites/
Owner, Alzheimer's/Caregiving Book Reviews
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/ADbkreviews/
Easy, Affordable Community Education available at Suite101 University:
http://www.suite101.com/suiteu/default.cfm/261435
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

January 2002 Site of the Month
Passage into Paradise, by Dorothy Womack
http://www.geocities.com/womack47/passage.html

Dorothy's book, Passage into Paradise, is her caregiving journal kept
during her time as caregiver for her mother. It is a huge book--
around 200 pages printed out, presented as 25 pages online-- but it
is one that the reader will "not want to put down" until finished.
Dorothy has given us not only her mother's journey with Alzheimer's,
but also the thoughts, feelings, doubts, and pain of a caregiver--
even one who is a woman of great faith. Dorothy's moving poetry and
beautiful photos of her mother are also included, and soft nature and
angel backgrounds help make the book a pleasure to read. Passage into
Paradise has been awarded the Alzheimer's Site of the Week at
About.com and a Suite101 Featured Online Book. Dorothy is a writer
for Today's Caregiver (Caregiver.com), Empowering Caregivers, and her
poems and articles are featured at several other Web sites, including
Alzheimer's Outreach, A Year to Remember, and Poetry.com.  And hot
off the press, Dorothy's books: Passage into Paradise, Alzheimer's
Angels, and Sacred Sentiments, have all just been published in the
past couple of months (August and September 2002) by Writer's Club
Press/iUniverse.com.

~~~ Dorothy has amazed me publishing these three books withing a
couple of months (or was it just one month, Dorothy?), so I'm going
to include my reviews of her three books in this newsletter. ~~~

Passage into Paradise, by Dorothy Womack. San Jose: Writer's
Club Press/iUniverse, 2002. ISBN: 0595249264

You may have enjoyed Dorothy Womack's poetry in her Reflections on
Marsha Penington's Alzheimer's Outreach, at A Window on My
Mind, and in Alzheimer's Poetry at A Year to Remember. You may
have read her articles in Caregiving Today, and you may have enjoyed
visiting Dorothy's Web sites. Now published as a book, her
experience as her mother's caregiver is shared in Passage into
Paradise. I was amazed as I read her story, which began years before
mine, and continued several months after my mother died. I do not
think I could have handled caring for my mother as Dorothy and her
husband did. Long after her mother became bedridden and incontinent,
still they cared for her at home. Dorothy's honesty in this book,
expressing all the emotional turmoil she was going through, combined
with her strong faith shining through, make this a story we become
caught up in. I found I just had to read it all at one sitting, and
it is a story that I will want to read again and again.

Alzheimer's Angels: a Compilation of Poetry Honoring Caregivers and
Victims of Alzheimer's Disease, by Dorothy Womack. San Jose:
Writer's Club Press/iUniverse, 2002. ISBN: 0595245501

Dorothy Womack's poems have reached across the Internet and touched
so many people affected by Alzheimer's disease. She has bravely
shared her own story, in poem and prose, and she has reached out to
others who are living in the pain that she knew as caregiver for her
mother. Other children of Alzheimer's parents, spouses of people
with this disease, and early onset victims of AD have been honored by
Dorothy's touching poems, which have spoken to their hearts and
conforted them. In her 334 page book, Alzheimer's Angels, Dorothy
has shared over 200 of her poems, including some for Sept. 11, 2001
victims as well as for victims of Alzheimer's. Dorothy's gift has
ministered to me as well, speaking to me as from my mother, in her
poems "Most of All" and "The Other Side of Midnight". Dorothy's
poem "In the Company of Orphans" tells our story, of motherless
daughters who have found one another and become sisters. I am
grateful to God for Dorothy's influence in my life, proud to have
become her "sister" and friend. I highly recommend
Alzheimer's Angels, and I know that the verses contained within it
will minister to others, bringing healing tears, and giving comfort
and strength for the Alzheimer's journey.

Sacred Sentiments: Inspirational Poetry Honoring the Trinity, by
Dorothy Womack. San Jose: Writer's Club Press/iUniverse, 2002. ISBN:
0595247563

Dorothy Womack's inspirational poetry speaks of the trials and pain
of life, yet it is encouraging and positive, finding strength and
purpose in a strong faith in God. Her poems are born of suffering,
of pain, of sorrow in the passages of life, and yet, it is in these
trials that she has grown and has found purpose in helping others.
In one of her poems, she says, "I am grateful for what I learned
through trials, although it tore the heart from me. Because my
sharing brings such smiles to those who suffer silently." In her 276
page book, Sacred Sentiments, Dorothy shares over 250 poems, written
in over thirty years of her life. In these days of tragedies all
around us, acts of terrorism, and killings that we find so hard to
understand, we all need something positive, some hope for this life
and beyond. Dorothy's book gives us hope, speaking peace and comfort
to us through her poems: "And we'll never falter by choosing God's
way, for He'll go before us and ever will stay. Amid all our crises
our worries and fears, He comes forth to heal us, to wipe away tears."

~~~

Congratulations Dorothy on the publication of these three wonderful
books!!!

Best wishes & God bless you all!

Brenda
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Brenda Parris Sibley
A Year to Remember... http://www.zarcrom.com/users/yeartorem/
author of Waiting for the Morning, iUniverse.com ISBN:0-595-18782-X
http://www.iuniverse.com/bookstore/book_detail.asp?isbn=0%2D595%
2D18782%2DX
http://bpsibley.150m.com/wmf.html
Owner, Top Alzheimer's/Caregiving Sites
http://new.topsitelists.com/bestsites/bpsibley/topsites.html
Editor, Alzheimer's Disease Topic at Suite101
http://www.suite101.com/welcome.cfm/alzheimers_disease
Editor, Top Alzheimer's/Caregiving Sites Community at iUniverse
http://communities.iuniverse.com/bin/circle.asp?circleid=6622
Owner, Top Alzheimer's/Caregiving Sites Newsletter
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/TopADCaregivingSites/
Owner, Alzheimer's/Caregiving Book Reviews
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/ADbkreviews/
Easy, Affordable Community Education available at Suite101 University:
http://www.suite101.com/suiteu/default.cfm/261435
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

I will be interviewed today at 6:20 p.m. (Eastern) on Jacqueline
Marcell's "Coping with Caregiving" Internet radio program.  In case
you can't make it to listen live today, the show will be archived
here: http://www.elderrage.com/ShowArchive.asp

Here is the announcement from Jacqueline's Elder Rage site, including
the list of other guests:

"Be a guest/advertise: 949-975-1012. (Listen Saturdays 3-5 pm PT and
online 24/7! )
     Jacqueline's guests: Sandra Pierce-Miller (CA Partnership for
LTC), Jeff Love (AARP), Lisa Gwyther (Duke University Center for
Aging), Bill Thomas (Eden Alternative), Brenda Sibley (Top
Alzheimer's/Caregiviing Sites) & Paul Hutchison
(ExclusivelySeniors.com). wsradio.com. Online by 10-21-02."

The show is beginning now, so listen live now if you can:
http://12.162.161.64/cart/ProductDetail.asp?PR_ProductID=317

Have a great weekend, everyone!

Brenda
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Brenda Parris Sibley
A Year to Remember... http://www.zarcrom.com/users/yeartorem/
author of Waiting for the Morning, iUniverse.com ISBN:0-595-18782-X
http://www.iuniverse.com/bookstore/book_detail.asp?isbn=0%2D595%
2D18782%2DX
http://bpsibley.150m.com/wmf.html
Owner, Top Alzheimer's/Caregiving Sites
http://new.topsitelists.com/bestsites/bpsibley/topsites.html
Editor, Alzheimer's Disease Topic at Suite101
http://www.suite101.com/welcome.cfm/alzheimers_disease
Editor, Top Alzheimer's/Caregiving Sites Community at iUniverse
http://communities.iuniverse.com/bin/circle.asp?circleid=6622
Owner, Top Alzheimer's/Caregiving Sites Newsletter
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/TopADCaregivingSites/
Owner, Alzheimer's/Caregiving Book Reviews
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/ADbkreviews/
Easy, Affordable Community Education available at Suite101 University:
http://www.suite101.com/suiteu/default.cfm/261435
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Mary's Place
http://www.angelfire.com/ok4/mari5113/index.html
1st Place for the Year 2001
Mary Lockhart has early-onset Alzheimer's. Before she was diagnosed,
she had managed a licensed day care for infants for fifteen years.
She misses the babies she cared for, but she has three little dogs
which she enjoys, as well as having an acquarium, and feeding birds
and squirrels. She is doing a wonderful job telling her story on her
home page, Mary's Place, where she shares her daily journal, family
photos, memories from her childhood, links to other sites, and a
chats for other patients like herself. Mary says "This is a very
lonely disease. If I can help one person with my page it will all be
worth it."

ElderCare Online
http://www.ec-online.net/
2nd Place for the Year 2001
With a weekly email newsletter, The Eldercare Beacon, the Eldercare
Forum message board, scheduled chats hosted by other caregivers,
professionals and guest moderators, and tons of information on the
site, ElderCare Online is truly a beacon for caregivers. Impressive
awards and reviews received by this site include: Alzheimer's Site of
the Week at About.com, featured on CNN/Time, in Time Magazine, and in
Smart Money. If you haven't already, you'll want to subscribe to the
very informative Eldercare Beacon newsletter to keep up to date on
all that is going on at ElderCare Online and so you won't miss out
on some of the best articles you can read about issues involved in
Alzheimer's and caregiving.

My Journey
http://www.zarcrom.com/users/alzheimers/chip.html
3rd Place for the Year 2001
Chip Gerber is 55, and he was diagnosed with Alzheimer's in 1997. He
worked for over 25 years as a licensed social worker. His daily
journal is online, accented by the always beautiful designs of
Webmaster Marsha Penington of Alzheimer's Outreach. Chip's journal
is unique in that it is not just an account of what he does every
day, but it is a collection of his thoughts, feelings, and
reflections on his journey with Alzheimer's. He expresses his
appreciation of and delight in ordinary things, including his senses
of smell, sight, and touch as he cherishes nature and the changing
seasons. Chip gives us a beautiful way to look at life, in spite of
our losses.

Alzheimer's Outreach
http://www.zarcrom.com/users/alzheimers/
4th Place for the Year 2001
A totally amazing site, one that inspires awe and wonder every time
we visit, is Marsha Penington's (aka Tay, or Taylor Austin)
Alzheimer's Outreach. Her informational directories on Alzheimer's,
other dementias, and caregiving issues includes around 250 full-text
documents. There is a poetry gallery full of poetry by Steven
Stoker, Jerry Ham, Brenda Race, and Dorothy Womack, and Marsha has
provided Web space for the various works of other caregivers and
Alzheimer's patients throughout her site. At the Alzheimer's
Outreach site, family caregivers and patients alike have shared their
photos, memories, memorials, thoughts, and the list goes on and on.
There is so much this site offers, it's difficult to even begin to
describe it all. Marsha's own story of her mother's Alzheimer's,
along with beautifully designed backgrounds and graphics by Marsha
herself, add a personal touch and intensify the sense of awe we feel
as we visit this wonderful site. Futhermore, Alzheimer's Outreach is
also the large and very active local community service/support group
that is coordinated by Marsha in the area where she lives. Locally
through this group and around the world via the Internet, Marsha's
Alzheimer's Outreach is for so many an excellent source of
information and support at all stages of the Alzheimer's/caregiving
journey.

AlzWell
http://www.alzwell.com/
5th Place for the Year 2001
Susan Grossman was caregiver to her mother-in-law, and this award-
winning site grew out of that experience. Alzwell includes many
interactive features, such as "The Anger Wall", and is the home of
the Caregiver Webring. Alzwell is packed full of information and
opportunities for others to share their stories. Susan's site has
been highly reviewed and received several prestigious awards, even
appearing in Yahoo Internet Life's Touched by the Net. After her
mother-in-law died, Susan continued regularly updating her site and
keeps people informed about updates through her Keepin' Up with
ALZwell newsletter. More recently the site has also joined with
ElderCare Online, displaying an even more professional look and is
providing more services to caregivers.

Undying Love
http://denver.rockymountainnews.com/undyinglove
6th Place for the Year 2001
Undying Love was created by Patrick Davidson, a journalist, about his
mother who died of Alzheimer's. Undying Love tells the story of the
toll this disease took on his mother and the whole family through
excellent black and white photos, the wonderfully written story, and
even Real Audio throughout so we can listen as Patrick shares his
feelings. Undying Love is the one of the most beautiful sites I've
ever seen. The emotions all of us know as caregivers and family
members are expressed so completely, and the beautiful way this story
is told moves me to tears, again and again, every time I visit this
wonderful site. Patrick's site is a moving memorial to his mother and
a place where we can go where we can say "Yes, I feel those
emotions", shed some tears, and heal.

Caregiver's Army
http://www.caregiversarmy.org/
7th Place for the Year 2001
The Alzheimer's Disease Caregiver's Army, founded September 1999, has
launched a worldwide petition drive in support of finding a cure for
Alzheimer's Disease and for helping caregivers. Their goal is to
collect a million signatures, and several months ago spokesperson,
Carolyn Haynali, presented the first 20,000 signatures in Washington
DC. The Army has an impressively professional Web site, providing
Alzheimer's information, statistics about this disease, and featuring
photos of Carolyn meeting Congressmen. The Army mailing list/support
group which can be subscribed to at
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/CAREGIVERSARMY
Hearing Carolyn interviewed last year on the Don & Carla Show,
I must say I was impressed, and I can't think of a better
spokesperson. For her husband, Chuck, who has Alzheimer's, and for
caregivers and patients everywhere, Carolyn and the Caregiver's Army
are busy fighting this disease that has so affected all our lives.

Passage into Paradise
http://www.geocities.com/womack47/passage.html
8th Place for the Year 2001
Dorothy's book, Passage into Paradise, is her caregiving journal kept
during her time as caregiver for her mother. It is a huge book--
around 200 pages printed out, presented as 25 pages online-- but it
is one that the reader will "not want to put down" until finished.
Dorothy has given us not only her mother's journey with Alzheimer's,
but also the thoughts, feelings, doubts, and pain of a caregiver--
even one who is a woman of great faith. Dorothy's moving poetry and
beautiful photos of her mother are also included, and soft nature and
angel backgrounds help make the book a pleasure to read. Passage into
Paradise has been awarded the Alzheimer's Site of the Week at
About.com and a Suite101 Featured Online Book. Dorothy is a writer
for Today's Caregiver (Caregiver.com), Empowering Caregivers, and her
poems and articles are featured at several other Web sites, including
Alzheimer's Outreach, A Year to Remember, and Poetry.com.  And hot
off the press, Dorothy's books: Passage into Paradise, Alzheimer's
Angels, and Sacred Sentiments, have all just been published in the
past couple of months (August and September 2002) by Writer's Club
Press / iUniverse.com.  (I'll write more about Dorothys' books very
soon on my other list, Alzheimer's/Caregiving Book Reviews)

Caregiver's Haven
http://www.nhisgarden.com/caregivers/entrance.html
9th Place for the Year 2001
Nancy Walker is nurse who has 22 years of experience with caring for
the elderly and dementia patients. She has taken on Alzheimer's as her
cause and as well as providing information about AD, she has created
a true haven for weary caregivers and early-onset patients alike.
Her site features a Poetry Niche, which includes the poems of Dorothy
Womack, Brenda Race, Carolyn Haynali, Tim Brennan and others, and a
Gallery which displays paintings by Dorothy Womack's mother and some
selections from the Brace Alzheimer's Research Art Gallery. Nancy's
wish for us as we visit her site is "To sit back and find a relaxing
site filled with love, peace and maybe a laugh or too", and she
is doing a wonderful job at reaching that goal. Despite her former
server's losing her Web site files in the past couple of years, Nancy
has restored her site and continued to develop it even, amazing us
with all she accomplishes in addition to her busy career.

Poems, Prayers, and Promises
by Brenda Race
http://www.geocities.com/brace03/Mom.html
10th Place for the Year 2001
Brenda cared for her mother at home until she entered a nursing home
in December 1998. She was still with her every chance she got until
her mother died about a year later in December 1999. Brenda's site,
Poems, Prayers, and Promises, is unique in that it gives a positive
look at the nursing home experience, through her poetry and photos.
Brenda has collected her thoughts, memories, photos, and poems
from all stages in her journey with her mother and Alzheimer's,
and she has illustrated them all so wonderfully with beautiful
backgrounds and graphics. She also has included some poems that
Dorothy Womack wrote for her during her times of grief after her
mother's entrance into the nursing home and as the disease
progressed, taking more and more of her mother from her. It's a
wonderful site, full of beautiful poetry, great photos and
graphics, and tremendous spiritual insight.

Congrats to all of these wonderful sites!  And, I am actually about
to get caught up here in a few months, maybe ...

Beginning with the year 2002, only one site has been chosen per
month, and this has been done randomly by the TopSites program.  This
change was to reduce my time spent managing that list, thus to
eventually help me catch up with this email list, and also to give
others besides those with the most votes to have a chance to win.  At
the end of the year, however, there will again be ten winning sites,
those coming in at the top with votes, just as before.

Best wishes to all!

Brenda
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Brenda Parris Sibley
A Year to Remember... http://www.zarcrom.com/users/yeartorem/
author of Waiting for the Morning, iUniverse.com ISBN:0-595-18782-X
http://www.iuniverse.com/bookstore/book_detail.asp?isbn=0%2D595%
2D18782%2DX
http://bpsibley.150m.com/wmf.html
Owner, Top Alzheimer's/Caregiving Sites
http://new.topsitelists.com/bestsites/bpsibley/topsites.html
Editor, Alzheimer's Disease Topic at Suite101
http://www.suite101.com/welcome.cfm/alzheimers_disease
Editor, Top Alzheimer's/Caregiving Sites Community at iUniverse
http://communities.iuniverse.com/bin/circle.asp?circleid=6622
Owner, Top Alzheimer's/Caregiving Sites Newsletter
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/TopADCaregivingSites/
Owner, Alzheimer's/Caregiving Book Reviews
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/ADbkreviews/
Easy, Affordable Community Education available at Suite101 University:
http://www.suite101.com/suiteu/default.cfm/261435
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

AlzWell
http://www.alzwell.com/
1st Place - December 2001
Susan Grossman was caregiver to her mother-in-law, and this award-
winning site grew out of that experience. Alzwell includes many
interactive features, such as "The Anger Wall", and is the home of
the Caregiver Webring. Alzwell is packed full of information and
opportunities for others to share their stories. Susan's site has
been highly reviewed and received several prestigious awards, even
appearing in Yahoo Internet Life's Touched by the Net. After her
mother-in-law died, Susan continued regularly updating her site and
keeps people informed about updates through her Keepin' Up with
ALZwell newsletter. More recently the site has also joined with
ElderCare Online, displaying an even more professional look and is
providing more services to caregivers.

Mary's Place
http://www.angelfire.com/ok4/mari5113/index.html
2nd Place - December 2001
Mary Lockhart has early-onset Alzheimer's. Before she was diagnosed,
she had managed a licensed day care for infants for fifteen years.
She misses the babies she cared for, but she has three little dogs
which she enjoys, as well as having an acquarium, and feeding birds
and squirrels. She is doing a wonderful job telling her story on her
home page, Mary's Place, where she shares her daily journal, family
photos, memories from her childhood, links to other sites, and a
chats for other patients like herself. Mary says "This is a very
lonely disease. If I can help one person with my page it will all be
worth it."

Alzheimer's Outreach
http://www.zarcrom.com/users/alzheimers/
3rd Place - December 2001
A totally amazing site, one that inspires awe and wonder every time
we visit, is Marsha Penington's (aka Tay, or Taylor Austin)
Alzheimer's Outreach. Her informational directories on Alzheimer's,
other dementias, and caregiving issues includes around 250 full-text
documents. There is a poetry gallery full of poetry by Steven
Stoker, Jerry Ham, Brenda Race, and Dorothy Womack, and Marsha has
provided Web space for the various works of other caregivers and
Alzheimer's patients throughout her site. At the Alzheimer's
Outreach site, family caregivers and patients alike have shared their
photos, memories, memorials, thoughts, and the list goes on and on.
There is so much this site offers, it's difficult to even begin to
describe it all. Marsha's own story of her mother's Alzheimer's,
along with beautifully designed backgrounds and graphics by Marsha
herself, add a personal touch and intensify the sense of awe we feel
as we visit this wonderful site. Futhermore, Alzheimer's Outreach is
also the large and very active local community service/support group
that is coordinated by Marsha in the area where she lives. Locally
through this group and around the world via the Internet, Marsha's
Alzheimer's Outreach is for so many an excellent source of
information and support at all stages of the Alzheimer's/caregiving
journey.

Caregiver's Haven
http://www.nhisgarden.com/caregivers/entrance.html
4th Place - December 2001
Nancy Walker is nurse who has 22 years of experience with caring for
the elderly and dementia patients. She has taken on Alzheimer's as her
cause and as well as providing information about AD, she has created
a true haven for weary caregivers and early-onset patients alike.
Her site features a Poetry Niche, which includes the poems of Dorothy
Womack, Brenda Race, Carolyn Haynali, Tim Brennan and others, and a
Gallery which displays paintings by Dorothy Womack's mother and some
selections from the Brace Alzheimer's Research Art Gallery. Nancy's
wish for us as we visit her site is "To sit back and find a relaxing
site filled with love, peace and maybe a laugh or too", and she
is doing a wonderful job at reaching that goal. Despite her former
server's losing her Web site files last year, Nancy has
restored her site and continued to develop it even, amazing us with
all she accomplishes in addition to her busy career.

Innerquest
http://www.geocities.com/womack47/innerquest.html
Site of the Moment - December 2001
Dorothy Womack has written a number of articles, many of which have
been published in Today's Caregiver Magazine, about coping with
caregiver guilt, depression, grief, and other issues.  These are
collected here at her "Innerquest" site, and as with her
book "Passage into Paradise", her poetry and other writings,
Dorothy touches our hearts and helps us to see the caregiving
experience and afterwards through the wisdom of one who has been
there, and as her strong faith shines through, we even begin to see
it all through the eyes of God.

Brenda

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Brenda Parris Sibley
A Year to Remember... http://www.zarcrom.com/users/yeartorem/
author of Waiting for the Morning, iUniverse.com ISBN:0-595-18782-X
http://www.iuniverse.com/bookstore/book_detail.asp?isbn=0%2D595%
2D18782%2DX
http://bpsibley.150m.com/wmf.html
Owner, Top Alzheimer's/Caregiving Sites
http://new.topsitelists.com/bestsites/bpsibley/topsites.html
Editor, Alzheimer's Disease Topic at Suite101
http://www.suite101.com/welcome.cfm/alzheimers_disease
Editor, Top Alzheimer's/Caregiving Sites Community at iUniverse
http://communities.iuniverse.com/bin/circle.asp?circleid=6622

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

1st Place - Mary's Place -
http://www.angelfire.com/ok4/mari5113/index.html
2nd Place - ElderCare Online - http://www.ec-online.net/
3rd Place - Alice's Place -
http://www.geocities.com/allieyoung1/Alices_Journals.html
4th Place - My Journey -
http://www.zarcrom.com/users/alzheimers/chip.html
Site of the Moment - My Brother and Me -
http://home.talkcity.com/SpiritCir/thumpy01/index.html

Mary's Place
http://www.angelfire.com/ok4/mari5113/index.html
1st Place - November 2001
Mary Lockhart has early-onset Alzheimer's. Before she was diagnosed,
she had managed a licensed day care for infants for fifteen years.
She misses the babies she cared for, but she has three little dogs
which she enjoys, as well as having an acquarium, and feeding birds
and squirrels. She is doing a wonderful job telling her story on her
home page, Mary's Place, where she shares her daily journal, family
photos, memories from her childhood, links to other sites, and a
chats for other patients like herself. Mary says "This is a very
lonely disease. If I can help one person with my page it will all be
worth it."

ElderCare Online
http://www.ec-online.net/
2nd Place - November 2001
With a weekly email newsletter, The Eldercare Beacon, the Eldercare
Forum message board, scheduled chats hosted by other caregivers,
professionals and guest moderators, and tons of information on the
site, ElderCare Online is truly a beacon for caregivers. Impressive
awards and reviews received by this site include: Alzheimer's Site of
the Week at About.com, featured on CNN/Time, in Time Magazine, and in
Smart Money. If you haven't already, you'll want to subscribe to the
very informative Eldercare Beacon newsletter to keep up to date on
all that is going on at ElderCare Online and so you won't miss out
on some of the best articles you can read about issues involved in
Alzheimer's and caregiving.

Alice's Place
http://www.geocities.com/allieyoung1/Alices_Journals.html
2nd Place - November 2001
Alice was diagnosed with Alzheimer's two years ago.  Through her
photo album, she introduces us to home and the smiling faces of her
family.  She says, "I have 5 wonderful children who have been very
supportive along this journey."  Alice also introduces us to her
friends page where we see many others we've may have met online,
other early-onset dementia patients with Web sites of their own.
Alice's her journal lets us explore the thoughts and day-to-day
life of one who is in the early stages of this disease. As I
read it, I am struck with awe at what we are observing-- so many
early-onset Alzheimer's and related dementia patients opening their
lives and sharing their journeys with us.

My Journey
http://www.zarcrom.com/users/alzheimers/chip.html
4th Place - November 2001
Chip Gerber is 55, and he was diagnosed with Alzheimer's in 1997. He
worked for over 25 years as a licensed social worker. His daily
journal is online, accented by the always beautiful designs of
Webmaster Marsha Penington of Alzheimer's Outreach. Chip's journal
is unique in that it is not just an account of what he does every
day, but it is a collection of his thoughts, feelings, and
reflections on his journey with Alzheimer's. He expresses his
appreciation of and delight in ordinary things, including his senses
of smell, sight, and touch as he cherishes nature and the changing
seasons. Chip gives us a beautiful way to look at life, in spite of
our losses.


My Brother and Me
http://home.talkcity.com/SpiritCir/thumpy01/index.html
Site of the Moment - November 2001
Laura Hoffman's brother has Downs Syndrome and is also exhibiting
symptoms of Alzheimer's.  He is only thirty-nine years old.  Her site
shares links to both Alzheimer's and Downs resources, and also photos
from the Alzheimer List (Washington University at St. Louis)
Caregivers Reunion.  Lots of good stuff to explore here.


~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Brenda Parris Sibley
A Year to Remember... http://www.zarcrom.com/users/yeartorem/
author of Waiting for the Morning, iUniverse.com ISBN:0-595-18782-X
http://www.iuniverse.com/bookstore/book_detail.asp?isbn=0%2D595%
2D18782%2DX
http://bpsibley.150m.com/wmf.html
Owner, Top Alzheimer's/Caregiving Sites
http://new.topsitelists.com/bestsites/bpsibley/topsites.html
Editor, Alzheimer's Disease Topic at Suite101
http://www.suite101.com/welcome.cfm/alzheimers_disease
Editor, Top Alzheimer's/Caregiving Sites Community at iUniverse
http://communities.iuniverse.com/bin/circle.asp?circleid=6622

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Once again, I apologize for forever being late with getting these site
reviews out.  We had a computer crash in December, bought a new
computer after Christmas, took some time to get it set up, lost a lot
of files on the old computer, etc., etc., etc.  Almost six months
late, here are the winning sites for October 2001:

Diana McGowin
http://hometown.aol.com/LILAUTHOR1/index.html
1st Place - October 2001
Diana Friel McGowin, an early-onset Alzheimer's patient, is the
author of the best-selling book, Living in the Labyrinth (Dell
Publishing, 1993)-- the book on which the 1999 movie, Forget Me
Never, starring Mia Farrow, was based. She indeed is a history-maker,
with many firsts to her credit-- the first patient to write a book,
to do a home page, to begin an online support group for EOAD
patients. Diana's Web site shares her photos of her beautiful
Florida surroundings, family and friends, and a recently begun
journal.

My Journey
http://www.zarcrom.com/users/alzheimers/chip.html
2nd Place - October 2001
Chip Gerber is 55, and he was diagnosed with Alzheimer's in 1997. He
worked for over 25 years as a licensed social worker. His daily
journal is online, accented by the always beautiful designs of
Webmaster Marsha Penington of Alzheimer's Outreach. Chip's journal
is unique in that it is not just an account of what he does every
day, but it is a collection of his thoughts, feelings, and
reflections on his journey with Alzheimer's. He expresses his
appreciation of and delight in ordinary things, including his senses
of smell, sight, and touch as he cherishes nature and the changing
seasons. Chip gives us a beautiful way to look at life, in spite of
our losses.

Mary's Place
http://www.angelfire.com/ok4/mari5113/index.html
3rd Place - October 2001
Mary Lockhart has early-onset Alzheimer's. Before she was diagnosed,
she had managed a licensed day care for infants for fifteen years.
She misses the babies she cared for, but she has three little dogs
which she enjoys, as well as having an acquarium, and feeding birds
and squirrels. She is doing a wonderful job telling her story on her
home page, Mary's Place, where she shares her daily journal, family
photos, memories from her childhood, links to other sites, and a
chats for other patients like herself. Mary says "This is a very
lonely disease. If I can help one person with my page it will all be
worth it."

Passage into Paradise
http://www.geocities.com/womack47/passage.html
4th Place - October 2001
Dorothy's book, Passage into Paradise, is her caregiving journal kept
during her time as caregiver for her mother. It is a huge book--
around 200 pages printed out, presented as 25 pages online-- but it
is one that the reader will "not want to put down" until finished.
Dorothy has given us not only her mother's journey with Alzheimer's,
but also the thoughts, feelings, doubts, and pain of a caregiver--
even one who is a woman of great faith. Dorothy's moving poetry and
beautiful photos of her mother are also included, and soft nature and
angel backgrounds help make the book a pleasure to read. Passage into
Paradise has been awarded the Alzheimer's Site of the Week at
About.com and a Suite101 Featured Online Book. Dorothy is a writer
for Today's Caregiver (Caregiver.com), Empowering Caregivers, and her
poems and articles are featured at several other Web sites, including
Alzheimer's Outreach, A Year to Remember, and Poetry.com.

Mary's Nurses United
Site of the Moment - October 2001
http://communities.msn.com/MarysNursesUnited

Once again, forgive me, as at least one of the links above seems to
have  disappeared before I got the reviews out.  I know that our
first place winner for October, Diana McGowin, has apparently given
up on her Web site after AOL deleted it for the second time.  I know
how frustrating that can be, as I've had parts of sites of mine
deleted by various free web space providers, and I've also accidently
deleted my own pages at times, as well as losing files through
computer crashes.  Diana has been a pioneer for other early-onset
Alzheimer's patients, and though I hope she will be able to get her
site up again, she will never be forgotten for all she has done
through that site, her book, and in all of the ways she has been
involved in helping others on the Internet.

Happy Spring!

Brenda

AlzWell
http://www.alzwell.com/
1st Place - September 2001
Susan Grossman was caregiver to her mother-in-law, and this award-
winning site grew out of that experience. Alzwell includes many
interactive features, such as "The Anger Wall", and is the home of
the Caregiver Webring. Alzwell is packed full of information and
opportunities for others to share their stories.  Susan's site has
been highly reviewed and received several prestigious awards, even
appearing in Yahoo Internet Life's Touched by the Net. After her
mother-in-law died, Susan continued regularly updating her site and
keeps people informed about updates through her Keepin' Up with
ALZwell newsletter. More recently the site has also joined with
ElderCare Online, displaying an even more professional look and is
providing more services to caregivers.

Caregiver's SEAD
http://neuro-oas.mgh.harvard.edu/sea/
2nd Place - September 2001
Begun by Daniel Paris, MSW, of the Massachusetts General Hospital
Memory Disorders Unit, this is an excellent site offering the facts
about Alzheimer's, a comprehensive bibliography, and recommended
links As well as being an excellently designed and very informative
site done by a health care professional also shares links to personal
home pages done by caregivers.  Daniel has done a wonderful job with
this site!

Alzheimer's Caregivers
http://members.nbci.com/Bubblehead.1/AlzheimersCG.htm
3rd Place - September 2001
EdythAnn or Bubblehead has been a leader for years on the Alzheimer
List (Washington University at St. Louis) in the CANDID (England)
Chat Room and elsewhere across the Web, adopting many other
caregivers as part of her own family.  She cared for her mother-in-
law, Milly, until she died.  Her web site has told that story
beautifully, and EdythAnn has been a wonderful support for so many
other caregivers.

Undying Love
http://denver.rockymountainnews.com/undyinglove
4th Place - September 2001
Undying Love was created by Patrick Davidson, a journalist, about his
mother who died of Alzheimer's. Undying Love tells the story of the
toll this disease took on his mother and the whole family through
excellent black and white photos, the wonderfully written story, and
even Real Audio throughout so we can listen as Patrick shares his
feelings. Undying Love is the one of the most beautiful sites I've
ever seen.  The emotions all of us know as caregivers and family
members are expressed so completely, and the beautiful way this story
is told moves me to tears, again and again, every time I visit this
wonderful site. Patrick's site is a moving memorial to his mother and
a place where we can go where we can say "Yes, I feel those
emotions", shed some tears, and heal.


A+ Activities
http://pages.ivillage.com/activityideas/aactivities/
Site of the Moment - September 2001
Whether you are a health professional or a caregiver, you're always
needing activity ideas for use with Alzheiemr's patients.  Here's a
site that is filled with them!

Forgive me, as at least one of the links above seems to have
disappeared before I got the reviews out (If anyone knows the new URL
please let me know).

With apologies for my continuing and ever-increasing lateness,

Brenda
---------------------------------------
Brenda Parris Sibley
A Year to Remember    http://www.zarcrom.com/users/yeartorem/
Author, Waiting for the Morning: A Mother and Daughter's Journey
through Alzheimer's Disease, iUniverse.com   ISBN: 0-595-18782-X
http://www.iuniverse.com/marketplace/bookstore/book_detail.asp?isbn=0-
595-18782-X
Editor, Suite 101 on Alzheimer's Diseaase
http://www.suite101.com/welcome.cfm/alzheimers_disease
List Owner, Top Alzheimer's Caregiving Sites
http://new.topsitelists.com/bestsites/bpsibley/topsites.html
List Owner, Top AD/Caregiving Sites Newsletter
http://www.egroups.com/subscribe/TopADCaregivingSites
Editor, Top AD/Caregiving Sites Community at iUniverse
http://communities.iuniverse.com/bin/circle.asp?circleid=6622
Webmaster, Alzheimer's Poetry
http://www.zarcrom.com/users/yeartorem/ADpoetry/
Webmaster, Alzheimer's Articles
http://www.zarcrom.com/users/yeartorem/articles/
Personal    http://home.hiwaay.net/~bparris/CCC/
Work, Webmaster, http://lib.calhoun.cc.al.us/lib/
---------------------------------------

August 2001 Top Alzheimer's/Caregiving Sites

Alzheimer Europe
http://www.alzheimer-europe.org/
1st Place - August 2001
Alzheimer Europe's aim is raising awareness of all forms of dementia
through coordination and cooperation between Alzheimer and related
disorders organizations in Europe and to organized support for
patients and caregivers. Alzheimer's Europe serves thirty-one member
organizations in twenty-six countries. Their excellently designed Web
site, featuring information on Alzheimer's and other dementias and
tips for caregivers, is available in ten languages.

Alzheimer's Disease International
http://www.alz.co.uk/
2nd Place - August 2001
Alzheimer's Disease International is an umbrella organization of
Alzheimer's associations around the world offering support and
information to people with dementia and their caregivers.  Theirs is
a very informative site including facts about the causes of dementia,
treatments, diagnosis, answers to common questions, and help for
caregivers, as well as providing information about all the national
Alzheimer's organizations around the world.

Alzheimer's Society of Canada
http://www.alzheimer.ca/
3rd Place - August 2001
The mission of the Alzheimer's Society of Canada is to "alleviate the
personal and social consequences of Alzheimer Disease" and
to "promote the search for a cause and cure for the disease."  The
searchable site is a huge one providign information about Alzheimer's
including the warning signs, stages, treatment, caregiving, research,
and links and information for AD patients as well as caregivers.  It
also features a forum with archives dating back to 1997 and a
password-protected Physician's Corner.

Mary's Place
http://www.angelfire.com/ok4/mari5113/index.html
4th Place - August 2001
Mary Lockhart has early-onset Alzheimer's. Before she was diagnosed,
she had managed a licensed day care for infants for fifteen years.
She misses the babies she cared for, but she has three little dogs
which she enjoys, as well as having an acquarium, and feeding birds
and squirrels.  She is doing a wonderful job telling her story on her
home page, Mary's Place, where she shares her daily journal, family
photos, memories from her childhood, links to other sites, and a
chats for other patients like herself. Mary says "This is a very
lonely disease. If I can help one person with my page it will all be
worth it."

The Ribbon
http://www.theribbon.com/index.html
Site of the Moment - August 2001
The Ribbon Newsletter, the inspiration for this Web site, began in
January 1998, with the mission of providing information and support
for caregivers dealing with Alzheimer's and dementia.  The teal
colored ribbon was chosen to help raise an awareness of AD and
symbolizes the connection of caregivers in their fight against this
illness. The Ribbon is a Suite 101 Four-Star Rated Site, has been an
Empowering Caregivers Site of the Month, and the newsletter was
awarded People's Connection Newsletter of the Week by America Online.


With apologies for my continuing lateness,

Brenda

---------------------------------------
Brenda Parris Sibley
A Year to Remember    http://www.zarcrom.com/users/yeartorem/
Author, Waiting for the Morning: A Mother and Daughter's Journey
through Alzheimer's Disease, iUniverse.com   ISBN: 0-595-18782-X
http://www.iuniverse.com/marketplace/bookstore/book_detail.asp?isbn=0-
595-18782-X
List Owner, Top Alzheimer's Caregiving Sites
http://new.topsitelists.com/bestsites/bpsibley/topsites.html
List Owner, Top AD/Caregiving Sites Newsletter
http://www.egroups.com/subscribe/TopADCaregivingSites
Editor, Top AD/Caregiving Sites Community at iUniverse
http://communities.iuniverse.com/bin/circle.asp?circleid=6622
Webmaster, Alzheimer's Poetry
http://www.zarcrom.com/users/yeartorem/ADpoetry/
Webmaster, Alzheimer's Articles
http://www.zarcrom.com/users/yeartorem/articles/
Personal    http://home.hiwaay.net/~bparris/CCC/
Work, Webmaster, http://lib.calhoun.cc.al.us/lib/
---------------------------------------

"Better late than never", here are the July Top
Alzheimer's/Caregiving Sites.  My apologies for being so late with
this.

July 2001 Top Alzheimer's/Caregiving Sites

Mary's Place
http://www.angelfire.com/ok4/mari5113/index.html
1st Place - July 2001
Mary Lockhart has early-onset Alzheimer's. Before she was diagnosed,
she had managed a licensed day care for infants for fifteen years.
She misses the babies she cared for, but she has three little dogs
which she enjoys, as well as having an acquarium, and feeding birds
and squirrels.  She is doing a wonderful job telling her story on her
home page, Mary's Place, where she shares her daily journal, family
photos, memories from her childhood, links to other sites, and a
chats for other patients like herself. Mary says "This is a very
lonely disease. If I can help one person with my page it will all
  be worth it."

Diana McGowin's Home Page
http://hometown.aol.com/LILAUTHOR1/index.html
2nd Place - July 2001

Diana Friel McGowin, an early-onset Alzheimer's patient, is the
author of the best-selling book, Living in the Labyrinth (Dell
Publishing, 1993)-- the book on which the 1999 movie, Forget Me
Never, starring Mia Farrow, was based. She indeed is a history-maker,
with many firsts to her credit-- the first patient to write a book,
to do a home page, to begin an online support group for EOAD
patients.  Diana's Web site shares her photos of her beautiful
Florida surroundings, family and friends, and a recently begun
journal.

You Told Me It's Not Contagious!:
A True Story about How Cap'n Bud Tries to Deal with Alzheimer's
3rd Place - July 2001
http://www.angelfire.com/fl/capnbud/index.contagious.html
"Sometimes Ya' Gotta Laugh. . .To Keep From Cryin'" says Cap'n Bud.
This is his online book that tells the story of his mother-in-law's
Alzheimer's and how he and his family has dealt with this disease.
As Cap'n Bud introduces us to his family, we see, here's another
family, of individuals, yes, but yet so much like the rest of us.
Here is another family touched by Alzheimer's, and through all
the everyday events we share, it is good to find some humor in
the things the Alzheimer's patient does. Humor helps, but some of us,
unfortunately, can't see the humor until person with Alzheimer's is
gone.  It's wonderful that Cap'n Bud and his family can see now that
"Sometmes Ya' Gotta Laugh..."

The Ribbon
http://www.theribbon.com/
4th Place - July 2001
The Ribbon Newsletter, the inspiration for this Web site, began in
January 1998, with the mission of providing information and support
for caregivers dealing with Alzheimer's and dementia.  The teal
colored ribbon was chosen to help raise an awareness of AD and
symbolizes the connection of caregivers in their fight against this
illness. The Ribbon is a Suite 101 Four-Star Rated Site, has been an
Empowering Caregivers Site of the Month, and the newsletter was
awarded People's Connection Newsletter of the Week by America Online.

Memories of Minnie
http://www.angellpro.com.au/PRESTALK.htm
Site of the Moment - July 2001
Barb Angell says about her person with dementia...
"I happen to know her history very well. She enjoyed theatre and
concerts, she collected fine porcelain and appreciated antique
furniture. She was an expert dress designer and dressmaker. I knew
her very well. She was my mother." Barb says we shouldn't lose sight
of the person with dementia, that there is indeed a person still in
there.  For this reason  and to offer practical suggestions for
caregivers, this site was created, along with some other pages,
including one about "Poppies Head", the Angell Productions film to
help teenagers understand Alzheimer's and other dementias.

Again, my apologies.  Will work on August now and try to send it
before the end of September.  ;-)

Brenda

---------------------------------------
Brenda Parris Sibley
A Year to Remember    http://www.zarcrom.com/users/yeartorem/
Author, Waiting for the Morning: A Mother and Daughter's Journey
through Alzheimer's Disease, iUniverse.com   ISBN: 0-595-18782-X
List Owner, Top Alzheimer's Caregiving Sites
http://new.topsitelists.com/bestsites/bpsibley/topsites.html
List Owner, Top AD/Caregiving Sites Newsletter
http://www.egroups.com/subscribe/TopADCaregivingSites
Editor, Top AD/Caregiving Sites Community at iUniverse
http://communities.iuniverse.com/bin/circle.asp?circleid=6622
Webmaster, Alzheimer's Poetry
http://www.zarcrom.com/users/yeartorem/ADpoetry/
Webmaster, Alzheimer's Articles
http://www.zarcrom.com/users/yeartorem/articles/
Personal/Work - http://home.hiwaay.net/~bparris/CCC/
---------------------------------------

Diana McGowin's Home Page
http://hometown.aol.com/LILAUTHOR1/index.html
1st Place - June 2001

Diana Friel McGowin, an early-onset Alzheimer's patient, is the
author of the best-selling book, Living in the Labyrinth (Dell
Publishing, 1993)-- the book on which the 1999 movie, Forget Me
Never, starring Mia Farrow, was based. She indeed is a history-maker,
with many firsts to her credit-- the first patient to write a book,
to do a home page, to begin an online support group for EOAD
patients.  Diana's Web site shares her photos of her beautiful
Florida surroundings, family and friends, and a recently begun
journal.

Mary's Place
http://www.angelfire.com/ok4/mari5113/index.html
2nd Place - June 2001
Mary Lockhart has early-onset Alzheimer's. Before she was diagnosed,
she had managed a licensed day care for infants for fifteen years.
She misses the babies she cared for, but she has three little dogs
which she enjoys, as well as having an acquarium, and feeding birds
and squirrels.  She is doing a wonderful job telling her story on her
home page, Mary's Place, where she shares her daily journal, family
photos, memories from her childhood, links to other sites, and a
chats for other patients like herself. Mary says "This is a very
lonely disease. If I can help one person with my page it will all
  be worth it."

My Journey
http://www.zarcrom.com/users/alzheimers/chip.html
3rd Place - June 2001
My Journey
by Chip Gerber
3rd Place - April 2001
Webmaster: Marsha Penington
http://www.zarcrom.com/users/alzheimers/chip.html
2nd Place - January 2001
Chip Gerber is 55, and he was diagnosed with Alzheimer's in 1997.  He
worked for over 25 years as a licensed social worker.  His daily
journal is online, accented by the always beautiful designs of
Webmaster Marsha Penington of Alzheimer's  Outreach. Chip's journal
is unique in that it is not just an account of what he does every
day, but it is a collection of his thoughts, feelings, and
reflections on his journey with Alzheimer's.  He expresses his
appreciation of and delight in ordinary things, including his senses
of smell, sight, and touch as he cherishes nature and the changing
seasons.  Chip gives us a beautiful way to look at life, in spite of
our losses.

A Tribute to Arlene Francis
http://www.arlenefrancis.com/
4th Place - June 2001
Arlene Francis, best known as a television actress who starred for
twenty-five years  on What's My Line, also had a successful career
spanning fifty years on radio, the Broadway stage, and on film.  She
also had Alzheimer's disease.  This site was established in May 2000
as a tribute to Arlene.  One year later, on May 31, 2001, she died at
age 93.  Her tribute site, includes her biography, timeline, photo
gallery, her art, and more, including Alzheimer's disease information
and news. It's a beautiful site and a wonderful tribute and memorial
to this remarkable woman.


Paintings
http://www.geocities.com/womack47/paintings.html
Site of the Moment - June 2001
Dorothy Womack's mother, Vivian Hanby, was an amazing artist whose
talent emerged after the onset of Alzheimer's disease.  This page
displays Vivian's paintings: landscapes showing colorful seasonal
changes, still lifes, animals, flowers, and more. About her mother's
talents, Dorothy says, "It is very obvious to me how God used these
gifts of art to get across His point: that He exists when all else
has failed-- and that life, however fleeting it may be, is to be held
as precious in His sight as it is His gift to us all."  Beautiful
thought.  And beautiful paintings!

Alzheimer's Disease at About.com
http://alzheimers.about.com/health/alzheimers/
by Beth Creason
1st Place - May 2001
This site features news about Alzheimer's and informative articles
about symptoms and stages, diagnosis and treatment, activities,
sundowning, wandering, and other behaviors, early-onset AD,
other dementias, and much more.  There is also an Alzheimer's
glossary, a drug index, and a list of the top ten nursing homes for
each state of the U.S. Also included are links to personal pages by
both caregivers and patients. There is opportunity for interaction in
  forums and a chat, and subscribers are kept up to date regularly
through the "Alzheimer's from the Heart" and "Alzheimer's Weekend
Edition" newsletters.  There is so much here to explore, and Beth
Creason is doing a wonderful job keeping this site up to date and all
of us better informed about Alzheimer's.

ElderCare Online
Rich O'Boyle
http://www.ec-online.net/
2nd Place - May 2001
With a weekly email newsletter, The Eldercare Beacon, the Eldercare
Forum message board, scheduled chats hosted by other caregivers,
professionals and guest moderators, and tons of information on the
site, ElderCare Online is truly a beacon for caregivers.  Impressive
awards and reviews received by this site include: Alzheimer's Site of
the Week at About.com, featured on CNN/Time, in Time Magazine, and in
Smart Money.  If you haven't already, you'll want to subscribe to the
  very informative Eldercare Beacon newsletter to keep up to date on
all that is going on at ElderCare Online and so you won't miss out
on some of the best articles you can read about issues involved in
Alzheimer's and caregiving.

Mary's Place
http://www.angelfire.com/ok4/mari5113/index.html
3rd Place - May 2001
Mary Lockhart has early-onset Alzheimer's. Before she was diagnosed,
she had managed a licensed day care for infants for fifteen years.
She misses the babies she cared for, but she has three little dogs
which she enjoys, as well as having an acquarium, and feeding birds
and squirrels.  She is doing a wonderful job telling her story on her
home page, Mary's Place, where she shares her daily journal, family
photos, memories from her childhood, links to other sites, and a
chats for other patients like herself. Mary says "This is a very
lonely disease. If I can help one person with my page it will all
  be worth it."   Through the Internet, Mary has found friends, and
she is indeed helping others, being very active in several chats.  It
is a joy to watch Mary's page develop, as she adds new and very
creative pages, incorporating beautiful backgrounds, graphics, and
java. I couldn't help but notice an entry in her guestbook, from her
daughter I think, about Mary having a way of turning lemons into
lemonade, and I think that's a wonderful way to deal with the
Alzheimer's journey, as well as caregiving and any of the losses that
life brings us.

Alzheimer's Outreach
by Marsha Penington
http://www.zarcrom.com/users/alzheimers/
4th Place - May 2001
A totally amazing site, one that inspires awe and wonder every time
we visit, is Marsha Penington's (aka Tay, or Taylor Austin)
Alzheimer's Outreach.  Her informational directories on Alzheimer's,
other dementias, and caregiving issues includes around 250 full-text
documents.  There is a poetry gallery full of poetry by Steven
Stoker, Jerry Ham, Brenda Race, and Dorothy Womack, and Marsha has
provided Web space for the various works of other caregivers and
Alzheimer's patients throughout her site.  At the Alzheimer's
Outreach site, family caregivers and patients alike have shared their
photos, memories, memorials, thoughts, and the list goes on and on.
There is so much this site offers, it's difficult to even begin to
describe it all. Marsha's own story of her mother's Alzheimer's,
along with beautifully designed backgrounds and graphics by Marsha
herself, add a personal touch and intensify the sense of awe we feel
as we visit this wonderful site.  Futhermore, Alzheimer's Outreach is
also the large and very active local community service/support group
that is coordinated by Marsha in the area where she lives.  Locally
through this group and around the world via the Internet, Marsha's
Alzheimer's Outreach is for so many an excellent source of
information and support at all stages of the Alzheimer's/caregiving
journey.

Stella's Story
by her daughter, Margie
http://www.geocities.com/stellasstory/
Site of the Moment - May 2001
Margie tells her mother Stella's story on this Web page, beginning
this way "This page is dedicated to my Mom who like
so many others is a victim of Alzheimer's disease.
She had the mind of a scientist, the heart of a saint,
the determination of a champion and the twinkle of a true Lady.
Oh, how you inspire me!"  Margie goes on to outline the
highlights of her mother's life and to share photos, including
some of the assisted living facility where Stella now lives.
Thank you Margie, for sharing your beautiful mother, Stella,
with us.

Congratulations to these, and to five more new winners we'll have in
about an hour around midnight Central Time.

I'd like to invite you all to join the new Top Alzheimer's/Caregiving
Sites Community at iUniverse:
http://communities.iuniverse.com/bin/circle.asp?circleid=6622

Best wishes to all.

Brenda

---------------------------------------
Brenda Parris Sibley
A Year to Remember    http://www.zarcrom.com/users/yeartorem/
List Owner, Top Alzheimer's Caregiving Sites
http://new.topsitelists.com/bestsites/bpsibley/topsites.html
List Owner, Top AD/Caregiving Sites Newsletter
http://www.egroups.com/subscribe/TopADCaregivingSites
Editor, Top AD/Caregiving Sites Community at iUniverse
http://communities.iuniverse.com/bin/circle.asp?circleid=6622
Webmaster, Alzheimer's Poetry
http://www.zarcrom.com/users/yeartorem/ADpoetry/
Webmaster, Alzheimer's Articles
http://www.zarcrom.com/users/yeartorem/articles/
Personal    http://home.hiwaay.net/~bparris/CCC/
Work, Webmaster, http://lib.calhoun.cc.al.us/lib/
---------------------------------------

Top Alzheimer's Caregiving Sites - April 2001

Mary's Place
http://www.angelfire.com/ok4/mari5113/index.html
1st Place - April 2001
Mary Lockhart has early-onset Alzheimer's. Before she was diagnosed,
she had managed a licensed day care for infants for fifteen years.
She misses the babies she cared for, but she has three little dogs
which she enjoys, as well as having an acquarium, and feeding birds
and squirrels.  She is doing a wonderful job telling her story on her
home page, Mary's Place, where she shares her daily journal, family
photos, memories from her childhood, links to other sites, and a
chats for other patients like herself. Mary says "This is a very
lonely disease. If I can help one person with my page it will all
  be worth it."   Through the Internet, Mary has found friends, and
she is indeed helping others, being very active in several chats.  It
is a joy to watch Mary's page develop, as she adds new and very
creative pages, incorporating beautiful backgrounds, graphics, and
java. I couldn't help but notice an entry in her guestbook, from her
daughter I think, about Mary having a way of turning lemons into
lemonade, and I think that's a wonderful way to deal with the
Alzheimer's journey, as well as caregiving and any of the losses that
life brings us.

Alzheimer's Disease at About.com
http://alzheimers.about.com/health/alzheimers/
by Beth Creason
2nd Place - April 2001
This site features news about Alzheimer's and informative articles
about symptoms and stages, diagnosis and treatment, activities,
sundowning, wandering, and other behaviors, early-onset AD,
other dementias, and much more.  There is also an Alzheimer's
glossary, a drug index, and a list of the top ten nursing homes for
each state of the U.S. Also included are links to personal pages by
both caregivers and patients. There is opportunity for interaction in
  forums and a chat, and subscribers are kept up to date regularly
through the "Alzheimer's from the Heart" and "Alzheimer's Weekend
Edition" newsletters.  There is so much here to explore, and Beth
Creason is doing a wonderful job keeping this site up to date and all
of us better informed about Alzheimer's.

My Journey
by Chip Gerber
3rd Place - April 2001
Webmaster: Marsha Penington
http://www.zarcrom.com/users/alzheimers/chip.html
2nd Place - January 2001
Chip is 55, and he was diagnosed with Alzheimer's in 1997.  He worked
for over 25 years as a licensed social worker.  His daily journal is
online, accented by the always beautiful designs of Webmaster Marsha
Penington of Alzheimer's Outreach. Chip's journal is unique in that
it is not just an account of what he does every day, but it is a
collection of his thoughts, feelings, and reflections on his journey
with Alzheimer's.  He expresses his appreciation of and delight in
ordinary things, including his senses of smell, sight, and touch as
he cherishes nature and the changing seasons.  Chip gives us a
beautiful way to look at life, in spite of our losses, as Alzheimer's
patients, caregivers, or anyone-- as each of us eventually will
suffer some losses in life.  Beautifully written, Chip's "My Journey"
is a wonderful site to visit, helping us realize and count our
blessings and to be thankful for all we have.

ElderCare Online
Rich O'Boyle
http://www.ec-online.net/
4th Place - April 2001
With a weekly email newsletter, The Eldercare Beacon, the Eldercare
Forum message board, scheduled chats hosted by other caregivers,
professionals and guest moderators, and tons of information on the
site, ElderCare Online is truly a beacon for caregivers.  Impressive
awards and reviews received by this site include: Alzheimer's Site of
the Week at About.com, featured on CNN/Time, in Time Magazine, and in
Smart Money.  If you haven't already, you'll want to subscribe to the
  very informative Eldercare Beacon newsletter to keep up to date on
all that is going on at ElderCare Online and so you won't miss out
on some of the best articles you can read about issues involved in
Alzheimer's and caregiving.

Brenda Parris Sibley
A Year to Remember    http://www.zarcrom.com/users/yeartorem/
List Owner, Top Alzheimer's Caregiving Sites
http://new.topsitelists.com/bestsites/bpsibley/topsites.html
List Owner, Top AD/Caregiving Sites Newsletter
http://www.egroups.com/subscribe/TopADCaregivingSites

Top Alzheimer's Caregiving Sites - March 2001

Caregiver's Army
http://www.caregiversarmy.org/
1st Place - March 2001
The Alzheimer's Disease Caregiver's Army, founded September 1999, has
launched a worldwide petition drive in support of finding a cure for
Alzheimer's Disease and for helping caregivers. Their goal is to
collect a million signatures, and several months ago spokesperson,
Carolyn Haynali, presented the first 20,000 signatures in Washington
DC.  The Army has an impressively professional Web site, providing
Alzheimer's information, statistics about this disease, and featuring
photos of Carolyn meeting Congressmen. The Army mailing list/support
group which can be subscribed to at
  http://groups.yahoo.com/group/CAREGIVERSARMY
Hearing Carolyn interviewed on the Don & Carla Show a few months ago,
I must say I was impressed, and I can't think of a better
spokesperson.  For her husband, Chuck, who has Alzheimer's, and for
caregivers and patients everywhere, Carolyn and the Caregiver's Army
are busy fighting this disease that has so affected all our lives.

Simple Pleasures
by Peter Smith
Webmaster: Marsha Penington
http://www.zarcrom.com/users/alzheimers/peter1.html
2nd Place - March 2001
Peter was diagnosed with frontal lobe dementia at age 48.  Marsha
Penington (aka Tay Austin) has provided space for his journal at her
Alzheimer's Outreach, and she, as usual, has done a beautiful job at
designing this site.  Peter's journal is a combines his poetry and
thoughts about his illness since February 2000.  His first entry for
February 15, 2000 is a poem beginning with "I now understand my
illness and have come to embrace it!"  In spite of having to retire
from ninteen years with his Company, as he tells us in his second
journal entry, Peter's positive attitude is seen throughout his
writings.  In one his April 2000 entries he said "Nothing in this
life of ours lasts forever, so I have come too enjoy each day in my
life! ... Now when I wake up in the morning I do not care if its
raining, snowing, or sunny outside, each day is one too enjoy!"  This
is a wonderful attitude for anyone dealing with Alzheimer's or other
memory loss/dementia, and for caregivers as well, to live day by day
enjoying the "Simple Pleasures" life offers us.

Mary's Place
http://www.angelfire.com/ok4/mari5113/index.html
3rd Place - March 2001
Mary Lockhart has early-onset Alzheimer's. Before she was diagnosed,
she had managed a licensed day care for infants for fifteen years.
She misses the babies she cared for, but she has three little dogs
which she enjoys, as well as having an acquarium, and feeding birds
and squirrels.  She is doing a wonderful job telling her story on her
home page, Mary's Place, where she shares her daily journal, family
photos, memories from her childhood, links to other sites, and a
chats for other patients like herself. Mary says "This is a very
lonely disease. If I can help one person with my page it will all be
worth it."   Through the Internet, Mary has found friends, and she is
indeed helping others, being very active in several chats.  It is a
joy to watch Mary's page develop, as she adds new and very creative
pages, incorporating beautiful backgrounds, graphics, and java. I
couldn't help but notice an entry in her guestbook, from her daughter
I think, about Mary having a way of turning lemons into lemonade, and
I think that's a wonderful way to deal with the Alzheimer's journey,
as well as caregiving and any of the losses that life brings us.

The Ribbon
http://www.theribbon.com/
4th Place - March 2001
The Ribbon Newsletter, the inspiration for this Web site, began in
January 1998, with the mission of providing information and support
for caregivers dealing with Alzheimer's and dementia.  The teal
colored ribbon was chosen to help raise an awareness of AD and
symbolizes the connection of caregivers in their fight against this
illness. The Ribbon is a Suite 101 Four-Star Rated Site, has been an
Empowering Caregivers Site of the Month, and the newsletter was
awarded People's Connection Newsletter of the Week by America Online.

I will post the April winners in a few minutes.  I'm off work now
between semesters and just might get caught up. ;-)

Brenda Parris Sibley
A Year to Remember    http://www.zarcrom.com/users/yeartorem/
List Owner, Top Alzheimer's Caregiving Sites
  http://new.topsitelists.com/bestsites/bpsibley/topsites.html
List Owner, Top AD/Caregiving Sites Newsletter
http://www.egroups.com/subscribe/TopADCaregivingSites

Top Alzheimer's Caregiving Sites - February 2001

Thru His Eyes
by Tim Brennan
Webmaster: Nancy Walker
http://www.nhisgarden.com/his_eyes/entrance.html
1st Place - February 2001
Tim Brennan is 57, and he has Alzheimer's disease.  He formerly
designed, installed and resolved problems with computers,
information processing, telephone networks, and video conferencing,
and worked for a major bank for 25 years. When he had a heart
attack in 1992, and through medical examinations following that,
it was discovered that he had some type of dementia, and then
in 1993, he was diagnosed with Alzheimer's.  Since his diagnosis,
he has written a column for The St. Petersburg Times (Florida),
and articles for Duke University, The University of California
(San Diego), and some Alzheimer's Association chapters, as well
as speaking, and with his wife, beginning a local support group
for early stage Alzheimer's patients.  Webmaster Nancy
Walker of Caregiver's Haven, has designed a beautiful site, and
Tim's articles offer practical suggestions about living positively
  as someone with Alzheimer's, and his beautiful poetry gives us
  all clearer insight into the life of an Alzheimer's patient.

Caregiver's Haven
by Nancy Walker
http://www.nhisgarden.com/caregivers/entrance.html
2nd Place - February 2001
Nancy is nurse who has 22 years of experience with caring for the
elderly and dementia patients.  She has taken on Alzheimer's as her
cause and as well as providing information about AD, she has created
a true haven for weary caregivers and early-onset patients alike.
Her site features a Poetry Niche, which includes the poems of Dorothy
Womack, Brenda Race, Carolyn Haynali, Tim Brennan and others, and a
Gallery which displays paintings by Dorothy Womack's mother and some
selections from the Brace Alzheimer's Research Art Gallery.  Nancy's
wish for us as we visit her site is "To sit back and find a relaxing
site filled with love, peace and maybe a laugh or too", and she
  is doing a wonderful job at reaching that goal.  Despite her former
server's losing her Web site files a few months ago, Nancy has
restored her site and continued to develop it even, amazing us with
all she accomplishes in addition to her busy career.


Caregiver's Army
http://www.caregiversarmy.org/
3rd Place - February 2001
The Alzheimer's Disease Caregiver's Army, founded September 1999, has
launched a worldwide petition drive in support of finding a cure for
Alzheimer's Disease and for helping caregivers.  Their goal is to
collect a million signatures, and several months ago spokesperson,
Carolyn Haynali, where she presented the first 20,000 signatures
Washington DC.   The count now is at 35,000 signatures.  The Army has
an impressively professional Web site, providing Alzheimer's
information, statistics about this disease, and featuring photos of
Carolyn meeting Congressmen.
The Army mailing list/support group which can be subscribed to at
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/CAREGIVERSARMY
Hearing Carolyn interviewed on the Don & Carla Show a few months ago,
I must say I was  impressed, and I can't think of a better
spokesperson.  For her husband, Chuck, who has Alzheimer's, and for
caregivers and patients everywhere, Carolyn and the Caregiver's Army
are busy fighting this disease that has so affected all our lives.


Mary's Place
http://www.angelfire.com/ok4/mari5113/index.html
4th Place - February 2001

Mary Lockhart has early-onset Alzheimer's. Before she was diagnosed,
she had managed a licensed  day care for infants for fifteen years.
She misses the babies she cared for, but she has three little dogs
which she enjoys, as well as having an acquarium, and feeding birds
and squirrels.  She is doing a wonderful job telling her story on her
home page, Mary's Place, where she shares her daily journal, family
photos, memories from her childhood, links to other sites, and a
chats for other patients like herself. Mary says "This is a very
lonely disease. If I can help one person with my page it will all be
worth it."   Through the Internet, Mary has found many friends, and
she is indeed helping others, being very active in several chats.  It
is a joy to watch Mary's page develop, as she adds new and very
creative pages, incorporating beautiful backgrounds, graphics, and
java. I couldn't help but notice an entry in her guestbook, from her
daughter I think, about Mary having a way of turning lemons into
lemonade, and I think that's a wonderful way to deal with the
Alzheimer's journey, as well as caregiving and any of the losses that
life brings us.

~~~~~~~~~~~

I think I'm on a roll; Maybe I can send out the reviews of the March
winners by the end of the week.

Have a great week, everyone!


Brenda Parris Sibley
A Year to Remember    http://www.zarcrom.com/users/yeartorem/
List Owner, Top Alzheimer's Caregiving Sites http:
//new.topsitelists.com/bestsites/bpsibley/topsites.html
List Owner, Top AD/Caregiving Sites Newsletter  ht
tp://www.egroups.com/subscribe/TopADCaregivingSites
Contributing Writer, Themestream
http://www.themestream.com/gspd_browse/browse/view
_by_tag.gsp?auth_id=309545

Top Alzheimer's Caregiving Sites - January 2001

Undying Love
by Patrick Davidson
http://denver.rockymountainnews.com/undyinglove/
1st Place - January 2001
Undying Love is the one of the most beautiful sites I've ever seen.
  It was created by Patrick Davidson, a journalist, about his mother
who died of Alzheimer's. Undying Love tells the story of the toll
this disease took on his mother and the whole family through
excellent black and white photos, the wonderfully written story, and
even Real Audio throughout so we can listen as Patrick shares his
feelings. The emotions all of us know as caregivers and family
members are expressed so completely, and the beautiful way this story
is told moves me to tears, again and again, every time I visit this
wonderful site. Thank you so much to Patrick for such a moving
memorial to his mother and a place where we can go where we can say
"Yes, I feel those emotions", shed some tears, and heal.

My Journey
by Chip Gerber
Webmaster: Marsha Penington
http://www.zarcrom.com/users/alzheimers/chip.html
2nd Place - January 2001
Chip is 55, and he was diagnosed with Alzheimer's in 1997.  He worked
for over 25 years as a licensed social worker.  His daily journal is
online, accented by the always beautiful designs of Webmaster Marsha
Penington of Alzheimer's Outreach. Chip's journal is unique in that
it is not just an account of what he does every day, but it is a
collection of his thoughts, feelings, and reflections on his journey
with Alzheimer's.  He expresses his appreciation of and delight in
ordinary things, including his senses of smell, sight, and touch as
he cherishes nature and the changing seasons.  Chip gives us a
beautiful way to look at life, in spite of our losses, as Alzheimer's
patients, caregivers, or anyone-- as each of us eventually will
suffer some losses in life.  Beautifully written, Chip's "My Journey"
is a
wonderful site to visit, helping us realize and count our blessings
and to be thankful for all we have.

Alzheimer's Outreach
by Marsha Penington
http://www.zarcrom.com/users/alzheimers/
3rd Place - January 2001
A totally amazing site, one that inspires awe and wonder every time
we visit, is Marsha Penington's (aka Tay, or Taylor Austin)
Alzheimer's Outreach.  Her informational directories on Alzheimer's,
other dementias, and caregiving issues includes around 250 full-text
documents.  There is a poetry gallery full of poetry by Steven
Stoker, Jerry Ham, Brenda Race, and Dorothy Womack, and Marsha has
provided Web space for the various works of other caregivers and
Alzheimer's patients throughout her site.  At the Alzheimer's
Outreach site, family caregivers and patients alike have shared their
photos, memories, memorials, thoughts, and the list goes on and on.
There is so much this site offers, it's difficult to even begin to
describe it all. Marsha's own story of her mother's Alzheimer's,
along with beautifully designed backgrounds and graphics by Marsha
herself, add a personal touch and intensify the sense of awe we feel
as we visit this wonderful site.  Futhermore, Alzheimer's Outreach is
also the large and very active local community service/support group
that is coordinated by Marsha in the area where she lives.  Locally
through this group and around the world via the Internet, Marsha's
Alzheimer's Outreach is for so many an excellent source of
information and support at all stages of the Alzheimer's/caregiving
journey.


Alzwell
by Susan Grossman
http://www.webcom.com/~susan/welcome.html
4th Place - January 2001
Alzwell is another huge and amazing site packed full of information
and provides numerouse opportunities for others to share their
stories, to create memorials, and to express their emotions.  The
"Anger Wall" is a popular place where many have released pent-up
emotions as they express their feelings about Alzheimer's.  Susan's
site has been highly reviewed and received several prestigious
awards, even appearing in Yahoo's Internet Life's Touched by the Net.
  Susan is also owner of the Caregiver's Ring, the first web ring that
brought together caregiving related sites. After her mother-in-law
died, Susan continued regularly updating her site and keeps people
informed about updates through her "Keepin' Up with ALZwell"
newsletter.

~~~~~

My apologies for being so late with this post.  I will try to post
reviews of February's winners tomorrow, and I still need to complete
the reviews of the Top Ten for the year 2000.  And as we approach
midnight on this last day of March, we will have four more winners
announced tonight; My reviews of these, as usual, will be late.
Maybe one of these days I will get caught up.  ;-)

Brenda Parris Sibley
A Year to Remember    http://www.zarcrom.com/users/yeartorem/
List Owner, Top Alzheimer's Caregiving Sites http:
//new.topsitelists.com/bestsites/bpsibley/topsites.html
List Owner, Top AD/Caregiving Sites Newsletter  ht
tp://www.egroups.com/subscribe/TopADCaregivingSites
Contributing Writer, Themestream
http://www.themestream.com/gspd_browse/browse/view
_by_tag.gsp?auth_id=309545

Top 10 Alzheimer's Caregiving Sites for the Year 2000

Poems, Prayers, and Promises
by Brenda Race
http://www.geocities.com/brace03/Mom.html
1st Place for the Year 2000
Brenda cared for her mother at home until she entered a nursing home
in December 1998.  She was still with her every chance she got until
her mother died about a year later in December 1999.  Brenda's site,
Poems, Prayers, and Promises, is unique in that it gives a positive
look at the nursing home experience, through her poetry and photos.
Brenda has collected her thoughts, memories, photos, and poems from
all stages in her journey with her mother and Alzheimer's, and she
has illustrated them all so wonderfully with beautiful backgrounds
and graphics.   She also has included some poems that Dorothy Womack
wrote for her during her times of grief after her mother's entrance
into the nursing home and as the disease progressed, taking more and
more of her mother from her.  It's a wonderful site, full of
beautiful poetry, wonderful photos and graphics, and tremendous
spiritual insight.

Passage into Paradise
by Dorothy Womack
http://www.geocities.com/womack47/passage.html
2nd Place for the Year 2000
Dorothy's book, Passage into Paradise, is her caregiving journal kept
during her time as caregiver for her mother.  It is a huge book--
around 200 pages printed out, presented as 25 pages online-- but it
is one that the reader will "not want to put down" until finished.
Dorothy has given us not only her mother's journey with Alzheimer's,
but also the thoughts, feelings, doubts, and pain of a caregiver--
even one who is a woman of great faith. Dorothy's moving poetry and
beautiful photos of her mother are also included, and soft nature and
angel backgrounds help make the book a pleasure to read. Passage into
Paradise has been awarded the Alzheimer's Site of the Week at
About.com  and a Suite101 Featured Online Book.  Dorothy is a writer
for Today's Caregiver (Caregiver.com), Empowering Caregivers, and her
poems and articles are featured at several other Web sites, including
Alzheimer's Outreach, A Year to Remember, and Poetry.com.

Caregiver's Haven
by Nancy Walker
http://www.nhisgarden.com/caregivers/entrance.html
3rd Place for the Year 2000
Nancy is nurse who has 22 years of experience with caring for the
elderly and dementia patients.  She has taken on Alzheimer's as her
cause and as well as providing  information about AD, she has created
a true haven for weary caregivers and early-onset patients alike.
Her site features a Poetry Niche, which includes the poems of Dorothy
Womack, Brenda Race, Carolyn Haynali, Tim Brennan and others, and a
Gallery which displays paintings by Dorothy Womack's mother and some
selections from the Brace Alzheimer's Research Art Gallery.  Nancy's
wish for us as we visit her site is "To sit back and find a relaxing
site filled with love, peace and maybe a laugh or too", and she
  is doing a wonderful job at reaching that goal.  Despite her former
server's losing her Web site files a few months ago, Nancy has
restored her site and continued to develop it even, amazing us with
all she accomplishes in addition to her busy career.

Alzheimer's Outreach
by Marsha Penington
http://www.zarcrom.com/users/alzheimers/
4th Place for the Year 2000
Another totally amazing site, one that inspires awe and wonder every
time we visit, is Marsha's (aka Tay) Alzheimer's Outreach.  Her
informational directories on Alzheimer's, other dementias, and
caregiving issues includes around 250 full-text documents.  There is
a poetry gallery full of poetry by Steven Stoker, Jerry Ham, Brenda
Race, and Dorothy Womack, and Marsha has provided Web space for the
various works of other caregivers and Alzheimer's patients throughout
her site.  At the Alzheimer's Outreach site, family caregivers and
patients alike have shared their photos, memories, memorials,
thoughts, and the list goes on and on.  There is so much this site
offers, it's difficult to even begin to describe it all. Marsha's own
story of her mother's Alzheimer's, along with beautifully designed
backgrounds and graphics by Marsha herself, add a personal touch and
intensify the sense of awe we feel as we visit this wonderful site.
Futhermore, Alzheimer's Outreach is also the large and very
active local community service/support group that is coordinated by
Marsha in the area where she lives.  Locally through this group and
around the world via the Internet, Marsha's Alzheimer's Outreach is
for so many a most excellent source of information and support at all
  stages of the Alzheimer's/caregiving journey.


Though I will try to post a revision within the next month that will
include reviews of the remaining Top 10 Alzheimer's/Caregiving Sites
for the Year 2000, at present I am listing them as follows:

Mary's Place - http://home.att.net/~mari5113/wsb/h
tml/view.cgi-home.html-.html - 5th Place
Alzwell - http://www.webcom.com/~susan/welcome.html - 6th Place
AnnaMarie's Place - http://www.jacksonville.net/~bird222 - 7th Place
ElderCare Online - http://www.ec-online.net/ - 8th Place
Through His Eyes - http://www.nhisgarden.com/his_eyes/entrance.html -
9th Place
Diana McGowin's Home Page - http://hometown.aol.co
m/lilauthor1/index.html - 10th Place

Congratulations to all and thank you for sharing!

... and within three hours we will have four winning sites for
January 2001 ...

Brenda Parris Sibley
TopADCaregivingSites at Yahoo! Groups
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/TopADCaregivingSites/
Top Alzheimer's/Caregiving Sites at TopSites.com
http://new.topsitelists.com/bestsites/bpsibley/
A Year to Remember
http://www.zarcrom.com/users/yeartorem/

Top Alzheimer's Caregiving Sites - December 2000

My Journey
by Chip Gerber
Webmaster: Marsha Penington
http://www.zarcrom.com/users/alzheimers/chip.html
1st Place - December 2000
Chip is 55, and he was diagnosed with Alzheimer's in 1997.  He worked
for over 25 years as a licensed social worker.  His daily journal is
online, accented by the always beautiful designs of Webmaster Marsha
Penington of Alzheimer's Outreach. Chip's journal is unique in that
it is not just an account of what he does every day, but it is a
collection of his thoughts, feelings, and reflections on his journey
with Alzheimer's.  He expresses his appreciation of and delight in
ordinary things, including his senses of smell, sight, and touch as
he cherishes nature and the changing seasons.  Chip gives us a
beautiful way to look at life, in spite of our losses, as Alzheimer's
patients,caregivers, or anyone-- as each of us eventually will suffer
some losses in life.  Beautifully written, Chip's "My Journey" is a
wonderful site to visit, helping us realize and count our blessings
and to be thankful for all we have.

Thru His Eyes
by Tim Brennan
Webmaster: Nancy Walker
http://www.nhisgarden.com/his_eyes/entrance.html
2nd Place - December 2000
Tim Brennan is 57, and he has Alzheimer's disease.  He formerly
designed, installed and resolved problems with computers,
information processing, telephone networks, and video conferencing,
and worked for a major bank for 25 years. When he had a heart
attack in 1992, and through medical examinations following that,
it was discovered that he had some type of dementia, and then
in 1993, he was diagnosed with Alzheimer's.  Since his diagnosis,
he has written a column for The St. Petersburg Times (Florida),
and articles for Duke University, The University of California
(San Diego), and some Alzheimer's Association chapters, as well
as speaking, and with his wife, beginning a local support group
for early stage Alzheimer's patients.  Webmaster Nancy
Walker of Caregiver's Haven, has designed a beautiful site, and
Tim's articles offer practical suggestions about living positively
  as someone with Alzheimer's, and his beautiful poetry gives us
  all clearer insight into the life of an Alzheimer's patient.

Poems, Prayers, and Promises
by Brenda Race
http://www.geocities.com/brace03/Mom.html
3rd Place - December 2000
Brenda cared for her mother at home until she entered a nursing home
in December 1998.  She was still with her every chance she got until
her mother died about a year later in December 1999.  Brenda's site,
Poems, Prayers, and Promises, is unique in that it gives a positive
look at the nursing home experience, through her poetry and photos.
Brenda has collected her thoughts, memories, photos, and poems
  from all stages in her journey with her mother and Alzheimer's,
and she has illustrated them all so wonderfully with beautiful
backgrounds and graphics.   She also has included some poems that
Dorothy Womack wrote for her during her times of grief after her
mother's entrance into the nursing home and as the disease
progressed, taking more and more of her mother from her. It's a
wonderful site, full of beautiful poetry, great photos and
graphics, and tremendous spiritual insight.

Passage into Paradise
by Dorothy Womack
http://www.geocities.com/womack47/passage.html
4th Place - December 2000
Dorothy's book, Passage into Paradise, is her caregiving journal kept
during her time as caregiver for her mother.  It is a huge book--
around 200 pages printed out, presented as 25 pages online-- but it
is one that the reader will "not want to put down" until finished.
Dorothy has given us not only her mother's journey with Alzheimer's,
but also the thoughts, feelings, doubts, and pain of a caregiver--
even one who is a woman of great faith. Dorothy's moving poetry and
beautiful photos of her mother are also included, and soft nature and
angel backgrounds help make the book a pleasure to read. Passage into
Paradise has been awarded the Alzheimer's Site of the Week at
About.com and a Suite101 Featured Online Book.  Dorothy is a writer
for Today's Caregiver (Caregiver.com), Empowering Caregivers, and her
poems and articles are featured at several other Web sites, including
Alzheimer's Outreach, A Year to Remember, and Poetry.com.


Reviews of the Top Alzheimer's/Caregiving Sites for the Year 2000
will follow this email later tonight, if I'm able to get them out
(very tired--was an exhausting day at work).   Votes will be re-set,
and we will also have four January 2001 winners tonight as well.

Congratulations & best wishes to all!

Brenda Parris Sibley
TopADCaregivingSites at Yahoo! Groups
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/TopADCaregivingSites/
Top Alzheimer's/Caregiving Sites at TopSites.com
http://new.topsitelists.com/bestsites/bpsibley/
A Year to Remember
http://www.zarcrom.com/users/yeartorem/

Hello everyone, and Happy New Year!  Here are my reviews of the
November winning sites at Top Alzheimer's/Caregiving Sites:

Thru His Eyes
by Tim Brennan
Webmaster: Nancy Walker
http://www.nhisgarden.com/his_eyes/entrance.html
1st Place - November 2000
Tim Brennan is 57, and he has Alzheimer's disease.  He formerly
designed, installed and resolved problems with computers, information
processing, telephone networks, and video conferencing, and worked
for a major bank for 25 years. When he had a heart attack in 1992,
and through medical examinations following that, it was discovered
that he had some type of dementia, and then in 1993, he was diagnosed
with Alzheimer's.  Since his diagnosis, he has written a column for
The St. Petersburg Times (Florida), and articles for Duke University,
The University of California (San Diego), and some Alzheimer's
Association chapters, as well as speaking, and with his wife,
beginning a local support group for early stage Alzheimer's patients.
  Webmaster Nancy Walker of Caregiver's Haven, has designed a
beautiful site, and Tim's articles offer practical suggestions about
living positively as someone with Alzheimer's, and his beautiful
poetry gives us all clearer insight into the life of an Alzheimer's
patient.

My Journey
by Chip Gerber
Webmaster: Marsha Penington
http://www.zarcrom.com/users/alzheimers/chip.html
2nd Place - November 2000
Chip is 55, and he was diagnosed with Alzheimer's in 1997.  He worked
for over 25 years as a licensed social worker.  His daily journal is
online, accented by the always beautiful designs of Webmaster Marsha
Penington of Alzheimer's Outreach. Chip's journal is unique in that
it is not just an account of what he does every day, but it is a
collection of his thoughts, feelings, and reflections on his journey
with Alzheimer's.  He expresses his appreciation of and delight in
ordinary things, including his senses of smell, sight, and touch as
he cherishes nature and the changing seasons.  Chip gives us a
beautiful way to look at life, in spite of our losses, as Alzheimer's
patients, caregivers, or anyone-- as each of us eventually will
suffer some losses in life.  Beautifully written, Chip's "My Journey"
is a wonderful site to visit in this holiday season, helping us
realize and count our blessings and to be thankful for all we have.

Passage into Paradise
by Dorothy Womack
http://www.geocities.com/womack47/passage.html
3rd Place - November 2000
Dorothy's book, Passage into Paradise, is her caregiving journal kept
during her time as caregiver for her mother.  It is a huge book--
around 200 pages printed out, presented as 25 pages online-- but it
is one that the reader will "not want to put down" until finished.
Dorothy has given us not only her mother's journey with Alzheimer's,
but also the thoughts, feelings, doubts, and pain of a caregiver--
even one who is a woman of great faith. Dorothy's moving poetry and
beautiful photos of her mother are also included, and soft nature and
angel backgrounds help make the book a pleasure to read. Passage into
Paradise has been awarded the Alzheimer's Site of the Week at
About.com and a Suite101 Featured Online Book.  Dorothy is a writer
for Today's Caregiver (Caregiver.com), Empowering Caregivers, and her
poems and articles are featured at several other Web sites, including
Alzheimer's Outreach, A Year to Remember, and Poetry.com.

Caregiver.com
Gary Barg, Editor-in-Chief
http://www.caregiver.com
4th Place - November 2000
This is the Web site of Today's Caregiver Magazine, where you can
read stories, essays, and poems by the caregivers you've met online
as well as informative articles by experts on Alzheimer's, other
diseases, and caregiving.  Hot topics include Alzheimer's disease,
incontinence, nutrition, depression, and legal issues.  At this
searchable site, you can subscribe online to Today's Caregiver, sign
up for the Caregiver.com newsletter, read featured articles and
poetry, post on the discussion forum, and talk to someone in the chat
room. Scheduled chats include one hosted by Senior Editor, Kate
Murphy (of Kate's Place at http://home.att.net/~katesdrm/)each
Wednesday evening.  Caregiver.com is a very deserving winner in the
2000 National Mature Media Awards, and it is a wonderful source of
information and support to so many.  Thank you so much, Gary, Kate,
and everyone at Caregiver.com!

~~~~~~~~~~~~~

My apologies because this is late as usual-- even with days off work
for the holidays, I haven't managed to catch up.  I must admit I've
been kind of lazy and have done a lot of sleeping since coming home
from our Christmas trip to be with my family.

And now, I will put on another pot of that wonderful coffee my niece
gave me for Christmas, and I will fight off the temptation to take
another nap.  I have awards to present tonight!!!

Not only will there be four winners for December, but I will also
catch up on entering monthly votes into Microsoft Excel, and I will
be ready to award winners for the year 2000 as well!  I will total
the montly votes for each site and then divide by the number of
months that site has been participating.  I plan to give first
through fourth place awards, and also a top ten award to each site in
positions one through ten.

This will be an exciting night!  Again, I want to wish you all a very
Happy New Year, and to thank you for your participation, for your
friendship, and for all you do for caregivers and Alzheimer's
patients.

I have just been notified that I made a couple of errors in one of the
October winning site reviews.  Twice in my review of Chip Gerber's site, I
said Tim instead of Chip.   As my husband often tells me, I need to slow
down.  I guess I try to do too much and end up not doing anything really
well.  I'm so sorry & offer my sincere apologies, especially to Chip.  The
corrected reviews are below.

Brenda P. Sibley

----------------

ElderCare Online
Rich O’Boyle
http://www.ec-online.net/
1st Place - October 2000

With a weekly email newsletter, The Eldercare Beacon, the Eldercare Forum
message board, scheduled chats hosted by other caregivers, professionals
and guest moderators, and tons of information on the site, ElderCare Online
is truly a beacon for caregivers.  Impressive awards and reviews received
by this site include: Alzheimer's Site of the Week at About.com, featured
on CNN/Time, in Time Magazine, and in
Smart Money.  If you haven't already, you'll want to subscribe to the  very
informative Eldercare Beacon newsletter to keep up to date on  all that is
going on at ElderCare Online and so you won't miss out on some of the best
articles you can read about issues involved in Alzheimer's and caregiving.
  Also, each month a featured site from
the Top Alzheimer's/Caregiving Sites list is chosen to be reviewed in the
Eldercare Beacon.  Thank you so much, Rich!  And congratulations to the
sites that have been featured there!

Poems, Prayers, and Promises
by Brenda Race
http://www.geocities.com/brace03/Mom.html
2nd Place - October 2000

Brenda cared for her mother at home until she entered a nursing home in
December 1998.  She was still with her every chance she got until her
mother died about a year later in December 1999.  Brenda's site, Poems,
Prayers, and Promises, is unique in that it gives a positive look at the
nursing home experience, through her poetry and photos. Brenda has
collected her thoughts, memories, photos, and poems from all stages in her
journey with her mother and Alzheimer's, and she has illustrated them all
so wonderfully with beautiful  backgrounds and graphics.   She also has
included some poems that Dorothy Womack wrote for her during her times of
grief after her mother's entrance into the nursing home and as the disease
progressed, taking more and more of her mother from her.  It's a wonderful
site, full of beautiful poetry, wonderful photos and graphics, and
tremendous spiritual insight.


Thru His Eyes
by Tim Brennan
Webmaster: Nancy Walker
http://www.nhisgarden.com/his_eyes/entrance.html

Tim Brennan is 57, and he has Alzheimer's disease.  He formerly designed,
installed and resolved problems with computers, information processing,
telephone networks, and video conferencing, and worked for a major bank for
25 years. When he had a heart  attack in 1992, and through medical
examinations following that, it was discovered that he had some type of
dementia, and then in 1993, he was diagnosed with Alzheimer's.  Since his
diagnosis, he has written a column for The St. Petersburg Times (Florida),
and articles for Duke University, The University of California (San Diego),
and some Alzheimer's Association chapters, as well as speaking, and with
his wife, beginning a local support group for early stage Alzheimer's
patients.  Webmaster Nancy Walker of Caregiver's Haven, has designed a
beautiful site, and Tim's articles offer practical suggestions about living
positively as someone with Alzheimer's, and his beautiful poetry gives us
all clearer insight into the life of an Alzheimer's patient.

My Journey
by Chip Gerber
Webmaster: Marsha Penington
http://www.zarcrom.com/users/alzheimers/chip.html
Chip is 55, and he was diagnosed with Alzheimer's in 1997.  He worked for
over 25 years as a licensed social worker.  His daily journal is online,
accented by the always beautiful designs of Webmaster Marsha Penington of
Alzheimer's  Outreach. Chip's journal is unique in that it is not just an
account of what he does every day, but it is a collection of his thoughts,
feelings, and reflections on his journey with Alzheimer's.  He expresses
his appreciation of and delight in ordinary things, including his senses of
smell, sight, and touch as he cherishes nature and the changing seasons.
Chip gives us a beautiful way to look at life, in spite of our losses, as
Alzheimer's patients,
caregivers, or anyone-- as each of us eventually will suffer some losses in
life.  Beautifully written, Chip's "My Journey" is a wonderful site to
visit in this holiday season, helping us realize and count our blessings
and to be thankful for all we have.
---------------------------------------
Brenda Parris Sibley
A Year to Remember
http://www.zarcrom.com/users/yeartorem/
---------------------------------------

Here are my reviews of the October winning sites at Top
Alzheimer's/Caregiving Sites:

ElderCare Online
Rich O'Boyle
http://www.ec-online.net/
1st Place - October 2000

With a weekly email newsletter, The Eldercare Beacon, the Eldercare
Forum message board, scheduled chats hosted by other caregivers,
professionals and guest moderators, and tons of information on the
site, ElderCare Online is truly a beacon for caregivers.  Impressive
awards and reviews received by this site include: Alzheimer's Site of
the Week at About.com, featured on CNN/Time, in Time Magazine, and in
Smart Money.  If you haven't already, you'll want to subscribe to the
very informative Eldercare Beacon newsletter to keep up to date on
all that is going on at ElderCare Online and so you won't miss out on
some of the best articles you can read about issues involved in
Alzheimer's and caregiving.   Also, each month a featured site from
the Top Alzheimer's/Caregiving Sites list is chosen to be reviewed in
the Eldercare Beacon.  Thank you so much, Rich!  And congratulations
to the sites that have been featured there!

Poems, Prayers, and Promises
by Brenda Race
http://www.geocities.com/brace03/Mom.html
2nd Place - October 2000

Brenda cared for her mother at home until she entered a nursing home
in December 1998.  She was still with her every chance she got until
her mother died about a year later in December 1999.  Brenda's site,
Poems, Prayers, and Promises, is unique in that it gives a positive
look at the nursing home experience, through her poetry and photos.
Brenda has collected her thoughts, memories, photos, and poems from
all stages in her journey with her mother and Alzheimer's, and she
has illustrated them all so wonderfully with beautiful backgrounds
and graphics.   She also has included some poems that Dorothy Womack
wrote for her during her times of grief after her mother's entrance
into the nursing home and as the disease progressed, taking more and
more of her mother from her. It's a wonderful site, full of beautiful
poetry, wonderful photos and graphics, and tremendous spiritual
insight.


Thru His Eyes
by Tim Brennan
Webmaster: Nancy Walker
http://www.nhisgarden.com/his_eyes/entrance.html

Tim Brennan is 57, and he has Alzheimer's disease.  He formerly
designed, installed and resolved problems with computers,
information processing, telephone networks, and video conferencing,
and worked for a major bank for 25 years. When he had a heart
attack in 1992, and through medical examinations following that,
it was discovered that he had some type of dementia, and then
in 1993, he was diagnosed with Alzheimer's.  Since his diagnosis,
he has written a column for The St. Petersburg Times (Florida),
and articles for Duke University, The University of California
(San Diego), and some Alzheimer's Association chapters, as well
as speaking, and with his wife, beginning a local support group
for early stage Alzheimer's patients.  Webmaster Nancy
Walker of Caregiver's Haven, has designed a beautiful site, and
Tim's articles offer practical suggestions about living positively
  as someone with Alzheimer's, and his beautiful poetry gives us
  all clearer insight into the life of an Alzheimer's patient.

My Journey
by Chip Gerber
Webmaster: Marsha Penington
http://www.zarcrom.com/users/alzheimers/chip.html

Chip is 55, and he was diagnosed with Alzheimer's in 1997.  He worked
for over 25 years as a licensed social worker.  His daily journal is
online, accented by the always beautiful designs of Webmaster Marsha
Penington of Alzheimer's Outreach. Chips journal is unique in that it
is not just an account of what he does every day, but it is a
collection of his thoughts, feelings, and reflections on his journey
with Alzheimer's.  He expresses his appreciation of and delight in
ordinary things, including his senses of smell, sight, and touch as
he cherishes nature and the changing seasons.  Tim gives us a
beautiful way to look at life, in spite of our losses, as Alzheimer's
patients,
caregivers, or anyone-- as each of us eventually will suffer some
losses in life.  Beautifully written, Tim's "My Journey" is a
wonderful site to visit in this holiday season, helping us realize
and count our blessings and to be thankful for all we have.


November's winning sites will be announced this week on Thursday
night/Friday morning.  And hopefully I'll get the reviews of those
out sooner in December.  I'm trying to do all of my Christmas
shopping earlier this year (actually am about 80-90% finished now),
so maybe in December I'll have more time for this, and also for
taking care of some badly needed updating on my Year to Remember
site, including posting the Top Alzheimer's/Caregiving Sites winning
sites and reviews there.

Sincere wishes for a wonderful holiday season to all!

Brenda Parris Sibley
List Owner, Top Alzheimer's/Caregiving Sites
http://new.topsitelists.com/bestsites/bpsibley/
A Year to Remember
http://www.zarcrom.com/users/yeartorem/

Did you know you can help build files we can share on the
TopADCaregiving Sites list at eGroups?  As a member of this mailing
list, you may contribute to any of the collections of links at:

http://www.egroups.com/links/TopADCaregivingSites

If your site is a member of the Top Alzheimer's/Caregiving Sites list
(the voting list, not this mailing list), you may add your link here:

http://www.egroups.com/links/TopADCaregivingSites/
/Members_Web_Sites_000965768845/

If there are other sites that you think should be invited to join Top
Alzheimer's/Caregiving Sites, you can add their links here:

http://www.egroups.com/links/TopADCaregivingSites/
/Recommended_AD_Careg_000965768898/

If you have an HTML help, graphic, etc. site, you may share it here,
or share any favorite site that will help others with building and
maintaining their sites:

http://www.egroups.com/links/TopADCaregivingSites/
/HTML_Help__graphics__000965768966/

You may also add to the files at:

http://www.egroups.com/files/TopADCaregivingSites/

with articles, caregiving information, etc., here:

http://www.egroups.com/files/TopADCaregivingSites/Caregiving+Info/

with your biography, curriculum vita, etc. here:

http://www.egroups.com/files/TopADCaregivingSites/Members+Bios/

Other categories may be added to the links and files.

You may vote on the poll here:

http://www.egroups.com/polls/TopADCaregivingSites

and there's a chat here that any of you may feel free to use:

http://www.egroups.com/chat/TopADCaregivingSites


Just wanted to share all of this with you; I should have long before
now, but as usual, I've been rather busy.

Finally off work for a few days, I'm working on the reviews of last
month's winners, and will  try in the next couple of days to get
those out to you all.  And then we'll have more winners in about a
week.

Thank you all, and Happy Holidays!

Brenda Parris Sibley

Quite late as usual, with a couple of hours remaining before the
October Top Alzheimer's/Caregiving winning sites are announced, here
are the reviews of the September top four sites:

The Ribbon
http://www.theribbon.com/
1st Place - September 2000
The Ribbon Newsletter, the inspiration for this Web site, began in
January 1998, with the mission of providing information and support
for caregivers dealing with Alzheimer's and dementia.  The teal
colored Ribbon was chosen to help raise an awareness of AD and
symbolizes the connection of caregivers in their fight against this
illness. The Ribbon is a Suite 101 Four-Star Rated Site, has been an
Empowering Caregivers Site of the Month, and the newsletter was
awarded People's Connection Newsletter
of the Week by America Online.


Empowering Caregivers
http://www.care-givers.com/
2nd Place - September 2000
The Empowering Caregivers site is a support community offering weekly
chats, message boards, a weekly poll,  a biweekly newsletter,
recommended books and links,  a monthly "Spotlight" where a
caregiving site and a caregiver are featured,  and is home of the
Empowering Caregiver Web Ring.  This site also offers members the
opportunity to begin keeping a journal, with biweekly exercises
posted to assist them in getting in touch with their emotions,
choices, and more.  The mission of this site is summed up in this
statement: " Empowering Caregivers is a gift for you. The most
important lessons we are all here to learn is the power of
forgiveness and the power of Love"


Partners Program of Excellence in Alzheimer's and Other
Neurodegenerative Diseases
http://neuro-oas.mgh.harvard.edu/alzheimers/
3rd Place - September 2000
The Partner's Program's mission is to bring together researchers,
clinicians, and others interested in rapidly expanding the work being
done to care for people suffering from Alzheimer's disease and
related neurodegenerative disorders.  They are involved in
Alzheimer's research at many levels: from benchtop research, to
participating in clinical trials for prospective therapeutic agents,
to hosting seminars and conferences aimed at building the core
knowledge of those involved in research and caregiving.  The web site
includes publications, news, announcements of upcoming events, and
information for caregivers and patients.


AnnaMarie's Place
http://www.jacksonville.net/~bird222/
4th Place - September 2000
In memory of her mother who died of Alzheimer's in , AnnaMarie's page
features a beautiful picture of her mom and dad on their wedding day
, her dad's caregiving story,  her "Lost Memories', and links to
Alzheimer's, related dementias,  and caregiving resources.
AnnaMarie's dad died in April 1996, two months before their 50th
wedding anniversary, and her mother joined him on the day that would
have been his 84th birthday in December 1996.  It's a love story and
a dedication to a caregiving hero who kept his vows in sickness and
in health, until the end.

There will be four more top sites in a couple of hours as October
comes to an end.  It could change, but at the moment, Eldercare
Online is in 1st place with 459 votes, Prayers, Poems, and Promises
by Brenda Race is coming in second with 452 votes, Thru His Eyes by
Tim Brennan is third with 448 votes, and My Journey by Chip Gerber is
fourth with 447 votes.

Happy Halloween!

Brenda Parris Sibley
List Owner, Top Alzheimer's/Caregiving Sites http:
//new.topsiteslist.com/bestsites/bpsibley/
A Year to Remember  http://www.zarcrom.com/users/yeartorem/

First, I must apologize for the lateness of this post.  September is
almost over, and I'm just now getting out the reviews of the August
winners at Top Alzheimer's/Caregiving Sites.   I have been in the
process of moving, and that combined with technical problems at
TopSites and with being extremely busy at work lately have made me
fall terribly behind in everything. Better late than never?-- Well.
here are the wonderful sites that topped the list last month:


Caregiver's Army
http://www.caregiversarmy.org/
1st Place - August 2000
The Alzheimer's Disease Caregiver's Army, founded September 1999, has
launched a worldwide petition drive in support of finding a cure for
Alzheimer's Disease and for helping caregivers.  Their goal is to
collect a million signatures, and spokesperson, Carolyn Haynali, has
just returned from Washington DC where she presented the first 20,000
signatures already.  The Army has an impressively professional Web
site, and the mailing list/support group which can be subscribed to
at http://www.egroups.com/community/CAREGIVERSARMY

Caregiver's Haven
http://www.crosswinds.net/~nancze/
2nd Place - August 2000
Nancze is nurse who has 22 years of experience with caring for the
elderly and dementia patients.  She has taken on Alzheimer's as her
cause and as well as providing information about AD, she has created
a true haven for weary caregivers and early-onset patients alike.
Her site features a Poetry Niche that includes the poems of Dorothy
Womack, Brenda Race, Carolyn Haynali, Tim Brennan and others, and a
Gallery which displays paintings by Dorothy Womack's mother and some
selections from the Brace Alzheimer's Research Art Gallery.  Nancze's
wish for us as we visit her site is "To sit back and find a relaxing
site filled with love, peace and maybe a laugh or too", and she is
doing a wonderful job at reaching that goal.

The Ribbon
http://www.theribbon.com/
3rd Place - August 2000
The Ribbon Newsletter, the inspiration for this Web site, began in
January 1998, with the mission of providing information and support
for caregivers dealing with Alzheimer's and dementia.  The teal
colored ribbon was chosen to help raise an awareness of AD and
symbolizes the connection of caregivers in their fight against this
illness.  The Ribbon is a Suite 101 Recommended and Four-Star Rated
Site, has been an Empowering Caregivers Site of the Month, and the
newsletter was awarded People's Connection Newsletter of the Week by
America Online.


ElderCare Online
http://www.ec-online.net/
4th Place - August 2000
With a weekly email newsletter, The Eldercare Beacon, the Eldercare
Forum message board, scheduled chats hosted by other caregivers,
professionals and guest moderators, and tons of information on the
site, ElderCare Online is truly a beacon for caregivers.  Impressive
awards and reviews received by this site include: Alzheimer's Site of
the Week at About.com, featured on CNN/Time, in Time Magazine, and in
Smart Money.

Congratulations to the August winning sites and thank you for all you
do to help caregivers!

I'll try my best to get September's reviews out to you all before so
late next month, though I'm still surrounded by boxes that need
unpacking, and eventually I'll try to get caught up with sending out
reviews for the May, June, and July winning sites as well.  I will
also try to get all of these posted on my site as soon as I can.

Fall is here, and I'm walking in the Alzheimer's Association Memory
Walk on Saturday, September 30 in Huntsville, Alabama.  I hope that
many of you are also walking with your local Chapter or sponsoring
someone who is.

Again, congratulations to the winners, and best wishes to all.

Brenda Parris Sibley