Digital LifeCloud® Offers "Cherished Memories" As a Free Gift in Honor of National Alzheimer's Disease Awareness Month and National Family Caregivers Month

"The cornerstone of caregiving is understanding one's life story, so I'm encouraging everyone to use Thanksgiving, a time when multi-generations come together, as an opportunity to ask those utmost important personal and health-related questions," says Debby Bitticks, CEO of Vital Options International (VOI) and co-founder of Digital LifeCloud®.  "And, if you don't know where to begin, "Cherished Memories" will walk you through the process."

All the questions in "Cherished Memories" have been carefully written to engage and draw people out in a creative way.  Lynn Benson MSW, co-founder of Digital LifeCloud® and a licensed social worker who specializes in family communication and conflict resolution says, "Capturing loved ones' life stories fosters the ability to understand and connect with them on a much more profound and deeper level. And medically speaking, it can even save your life when you learn about your family health history."   

The idea of using Thanksgiving to gather family information dates back to 2004 when then United States Surgeon General Dr. Richard Henry Carmona declared the holiday as National Family History Day. As families have many factors in common, including their genes, environment, and lifestyle, the Surgeon General encouraged Americans to make note of health problems that seem to run in their family. This can help identify people with a higher-than-usual chance of having common disorders, such as heart disease, high blood pressure, stroke, certain cancers and diabetes.  It can also be a window into the person's personality, needs and desires later in life.

Bitticks' family is case at point.  She, along with her grandmother, mother and sister Selma Schimmel, founder of VOI, battled breast and ovarian cancer as a result of the BRCA gene.  Her own breast cancer diagnosis, coupled with being the primary caregiver for her sister, their father and father-in-law, both of whom had Alzheimer's disease, and now her husband, who has Guillain-Barre Syndrome/CIDP, inspired her to co-write "Cherished Memories – The Story of My Life," so that all families can capture their life stories.

"I can personally attest that knowing my father's history created our unique father-daughter bond and shaped my approach to his caregiving," says Bitticks.  "By sharing this information with the family, it allowed the younger generations of grandchildren, nieces and nephews to see him more than someone with Alzheimer's disease, but instead a charismatic person who lived through many stages of history, expressed his gratitude for coming to America, and had a passion for music.  This would prompt the younger ones to sing with him and dance at our gatherings."

The benefit of sharing stories clearly goes beyond gathering health information, as "Dorothy The Organizer" and face of A&E's Emmy-nominated hit TV series "Hoarders," can share.  As the primary caregiver for her sister Pat, who has stage IV breast cancer, she knew her dream was to meet the Pope.  Last month Dorothy fulfilled that wish.

"It's important that I make every day my sister and I have together special, and using the Digital LifeCloud® system has given me the freedom to do that by providing the tools to have a solid organizing system in place for her care.  As a result, I've been able to find the time to capture more memories, such as our trip to Rome."

"I see our stories as the glue that holds and brings families together.  I'm such a firm believer in its importance that in addition to capturing my father's life story, I have completed my own. This has fostered incredible conversations with all my children and my grandchildren.  And there's no better time to start the process capturing your families forgotten stories than Thanksgiving," says Bitticks. 

About Digital LifeCloud®

Digital LifeCloud®, a service of Delphi Digital, Inc., offers an online organizing system for individuals, families, and organizations.  Its services include Yours and Your Family's Health History and Medical Records – You Own and Control, Yours and your Family's Life Stories, Ethical Will – Passing on Your Values, Award-winning Cherished Memories life interview book (QVC sell-out), Pictures, Videos & Lifecycle Events, All Vital Emergency Information – Legal, Financial, Insurance, Pet Care, Auto Info, Health, Wellness, Caregiving (for children, elderly parents and loved ones), plus "Dorothy The Organizer" TIPS! It also includes over 40 apps and over 200 award winning forms to help yours and your family's lives stay organized in all aspects of your life.  www.digitallifecloud.com.

SOURCE Digital LifeCloud