If you will ask me, which is the most beautiful and purest sight in the world? My reply would be that of a couple madly in love with each other cherishing and enjoying life. This story is of a couple who would certainly fit into this image. The couple were admired by all and was going through the best phase of their life when things took an unexpected turn. The events that happened after that have garnered the attention of people and media from all over the world. You will surely not be able to help yourself but get emotional and yes, inspired after reading this touching story...
Matthew Logelin was the son of Tammy and Tom Logelin. He was born and raised in Minnetonka, Minnesota and had three younger brothers. The family was "Minnesota nice" in the way they behaved. Yes, "Minnesota nice" has transformed into being just a vague term initially to a real thing now. If you are unaware of it, then let me tell you that the term is used to describe the pleasant, warm and extremely helpful nature of the Minnesotans which you can see them endorsing throughout the state. But, Matt's life was not that amicable with him. Honestly, "not being amicable" is still too mild a word when describing his life. Read on to find out why?
Matt was a good student during his school days Who knew that this bright boy from Minnesota would fall in love with a girl in a way similar to show in movies. Well, the way everything panned up for him would have surely cemented his belief that he would have done some extremely good deeds in his past life, benefits of which he was reaping now. Wondering what had happened? Don't worry you'll find all your answers in the upcoming slides.
It was an area gas station where Matt Logelin and Liz Goodman first saw each other. Though the encounter was a short one between the two who were in their high school senior year, it was enough for them two realize that they were made for each other. Eventually, it didn't take them much time to start dating. But, they were unaware of the fact that their newly born relationship was going to take a drastic turn...
It seemed that fate decided to throw a challenge in order to test Liz and Matt's love for each other when they both went on to attend different colleges after completing their high school. Matt pursued sociology at the University of Minnesota whereas Liz enrolled at a college in California. The couple were unperturbed by these events and went on to maintain a long-distance relationship proclaiming their immense love for each other.
The couple displayed a commendable amount of patience and conviction as they continued to stay in a long-distance relationship in between which Matt completed his Master's Degree at Chicago's Loyola University. Though he had the chance of continuing his study for a Ph.D. degree, the pain of staying away from the love of his life, Liz, was becoming unbearable for him. So what did Matt resort to?
Well, Matt decided to stop studying further and moved to Los Angeles. The reason being that his soulmate Liz, had landed a job as a manager at Disney in LA with whom he was getting reunited after years. After Matt took this decision it became more probable that the two had decided to stay together forever. But, though it seemed a smooth sail for the couple their ship of love had still not reached the shore!!
The couple justified the saying that, "Opposites Attract". The reason for me saying this is that holding completely opposite views on things and when it comes to likes and dislikes was something that strengthened their bond even more. Matt was a lover of indie rock whereas Liz fancied Justin Timberlake and they loved to give their other half the freedom to pursue and do whatever one wanted.
Matt frequently visited India as his job demanded it. He was very happy to see Liz also finding the country very nice and eventually, it became their second home. Liz started to accompany Matt on his tours to India and made many new friends there. They both felt a connection with the place and would often gel with Indian culture. They actively participated in traditional events and could also be seen draped in ethnic clothes.
The Taj Mahal as everybody knows is an epitome of the beautiful and everlasting bond that a man and woman in love share. So, there was no way that these lovebirds would miss a chance to visit it and proclaim their love towards each other. Matt was delighted to see the expression of amazement on Liz's face after the visit and thanked Lord for it as this was his prime motive prior to taking her with him to India. They had waited for long and sacrificed a lot for moments like these.
While on their way to visit a famous temple in Nepal, Matt made up his mind to finally throw a marriage proposal in front of Liz. Though, Matt was extremely nervous while even of thinking of doing such a thing, it all turned into the biggest joy of his life when Liz replied with a yes while on their way back from Nepal. Now, they had only one thing in their mind for which they both eagerly waited and I am sure that you would have guessed what it was exactly!
Finally, the day came for which Liz and Matt Logelin had been waiting for so long. It was on August 13, 2005, that they married each other in the presence of their family and friends. One could easily tell seeing their faces the amount of joy and satisfaction their souls were drenched with. This didn't come as a surprise for their dear ones as they were aware of the fact that marrying each other was the thing they had wanted for years.
They made a formidable couple as they loved each other a lot and had their respective careers on the rise. Everything seemed to be coming up perfectly for Liz who worked as an executive at Disney and Matt, a project manager at Yahoo. They loved each other like crazy and we're going through a purple patch in their respective careers.
Matt was running out of words to thank the Almighty as Liz got pregnant two years after getting married to Matt. The news of the addition of a little one to their happy family made the couple feel as if they were on top of the world. They could not have thought of anything better than this and ecstatically shared the news with their dear ones. The mood grew festive once relatives and close friends came to know that the couple was going to welcome an adorable little child into the world.
Things turned a little scary for Matt when Liz started experiencing severe morning sickness. Without wasting a moment Matt decided to consult the doctors, who advised his wife to take bed rest for 3 whole weeks. Liz dutifully followed the routine prescribed by the doctors for the required period. After this, she was admitted to hospital in order to keep a track of her physical condition.
In the wake of keeping his close one's updated on Liz's health, Matt regularly posted each and every detail on the pregnancy blog that he and Liz had originally created with the idea of sharing their common passion for traveling with the world.
Liz underwent an emergency cesarean section on March 24, 2008. This was after she had gone through an extremely risky and tough pregnancy something which is not that common. Despite the fact that it was 7 weeks before the due date, doctors decided to conduct the operation realizing that things could get nasty if necessary action was not taken immediately. As the baby was born premature, she was taken to the neonatal intensive care unit which saw Liz seeing her baby for just a moment.
“Madeline is here! The proud parents will continue to update everyone on our beautiful baby. Look forward to even more good news.” This was the immediate post on the blog after the baby's birth. Matt was sure that his blog would become the platform where he would share many more memorable moments that he would cherish with his wife and daughter. Unfortunately, the next post was going to be something very far from being called "good news"!
One could get an idea of the joy of meeting her daughter for the first time after giving birth from the expression on Liz's face. She had spent 5 weeks on bed rest as a result of which she was being assisted by nurses present there to take a practice walk in the room before the meeting. She was taken to NICU after being placed in a wheelchair by the nurses where her adorable daughter was waiting for her. What happened next was something that nobody present there had expected of.
While Liz was being taken to the NICU, the nurses heard her murmuring “I feel light-headed”. It was moments after this that they witnessed Liz passing out. Matt who was there at that time jumped to support his wife and was touched after feeling how heavy she felt. Matt was constantly calmed by the nurses who were saying to him, “It happens all the time.” But, deep inside he knew that something was not right. What was it that had changed Matt's facial expression from delighted to a worried one?
Initially, the medical staff was not that worried as they were confident that the fainting spell was a common symptom among women who just gave birth. But, suddenly there worst fear came true as they were seen attending and gathering around her frantically. Matt was asked to quickly leave the room where he sat with his unconscious wife. Logelin in an interview to The Guardian said, “All of a sudden it hit me, she was going to die, today, here in this hospital. And she was never going to hold her baby.”
The blog which was originally meant to update dear ones on the pregnancy and the moments that the pair was going to enjoy with their daughter saw a post headed "Liz." Matt had described the sudden demise of his wife just 27 hours after giving birth to their daughter named Madeline. The cause of death was a pulmonary embolism – a blood clot which blocked the flow blood flow to Liz's lungs, stopping blood flow to her brain.
Logelin was left distraught and devastated after the sudden demise of his beloved wife. He was swinging between the joy of seeing his newborn baby and the pain of losing his high-school sweetheart. He calmed himself after completing the funeral and without wasting any time reached the hospital to feed his baby girl for the first time. “I always thought I’d be a good parent alongside Liz. Doing it alone had never occurred to me,” Matt said to The Guardian. His life took a totally new turn since that day. It would be enough for me to tell you that Matt's life after the loss of his wife has been turned into a Hollywood movie to give you an idea of the twists and turns that he went through.
The first few weeks were taking a toll on Matt's health. In remembrance of her, he used to look at the clock when it struck 3:11 p.m. every Tuesday, as this was the moment when everything changed for him. Sometimes the thought of committing suicide popped up in his mind which he tried to always discard and not take seriously. “The thought of our child as an orphan turned my stomach, and I hated myself for even thinking something so selfish,” he said to The Guardian. His home where some time ago he used to spend quality time with his love had now turned into an unbearable place whose each and every corner reminded him of Liz. His inner conscience had started telling him to do something for himself and his daughter and not drown in the sea of grief.
Matt was left perplexed after finding him in a situation filled with the duties of fatherhood. Strangers approaching him and consoling him after coming to know about the tragedy was not a new thing for him now. In order to provide himself some respite, he started writing on Star Tribune's online parenting forum. It acted as a platform for him to express his feelings and emotions. But, he had no idea that his life was going to go through another drastic change.
The forum helped him to lighten the burden of sadness from his heart. Eventually, he decided to write on his personal blog on which he had earlier announced Madeline’s birth and Liz’s death. He expressed his feelings of spending life as a widower and a single parent in detail. Surprisingly, a blog on which he had started writing in order to just find some solace gained widespread attention. Now there were young widows and widowers who had formed a connection with Matt through the blog where they shared their feelings and asked for advice.
Matt's touching writing style had a key role in attracting other people on a daily basis to the blog. One could read about each and every detail of the time that Matt and Liz spent together in the blog and his lifestyle after losing her. People developed a connection with his tragic story and visited his blog regularly. One can get an idea of the popularity of the blog from the fact that it saw 50,000 visitors daily. He had come up with the best solution to deal with a tragedy such as his, but this wasn't the end.
Anyone who read the blog even once was aware of the pain and problem that Matt had to face while taking care of his daughter without his wife. Luckily, he was being advised by young mothers and plenty of people on even the slightest of parenting issues that he faced with the help of his blog. It was enough for Matt to realize that people really cared for him. But, this was just the initiation of the overwhelming response he received.
Apart from advice and well wishes, the blog also paved the way for people to send all kinds of things which in turn would help in raising Madeline. Diaper bags, nail clippers, hair clips and formula dividers are a few among the large number of daily use things that he received. This helped him a lot in properly taking care and raising his daughter as Maddy's grandparents lived 1,500 miles away from Los Angeles.
It was unintentional but the blog was slowly turning into kind of a letter that Madeline could read and understand what his father went through when she was small.“In many ways, it’s a love letter to Madeline and to Liz. Liz will never read it, of course, I want Madeline to know that her dad didn’t just curl up in a ball and start drinking heavily. I want her to know I was out there, doing as much as I could for her, and trying to make her as happy as I could,” he stated in an interview with the Daily Mail in January 2013.
Matt took Madeline to the Plaza Hotel in New York which was the place where he had spent his honeymoon with Liz. It came to as a surprise and divinely luck to Matt when it was there that his daughter learned to roll over for the first time. These things mattered a lot to Matt and he lived for them. Well, you will be astonished to know that it was not only the blog that came out as a blessing after the tragedy for Matt.
Matt tried hard to control his emotions during the first birthday of his daughter Maddy, as, it was followed by the death anniversary of his beloved wife. Eventually, he succeeded in not displaying the pain he had inside and making his daughter's first birthday as memorable as he could. He wrote on his blog, “[He’s] determined that Maddy’s birthday should be a happy time for her, not dominated by her mother’s death.”
Matt Logelin realized that his blog could serve a bigger purpose other than just acting as a platform for him to express his emotions. This was of providing help to parents who suffer from a similar tragedy. This was the driving force behind Matt establishing a charity organization in memory of Liz with the help of a few other interested readers of his blog.
It was in the year 2009 that The Liz Logelin Foundation got set up. Rachel Engebretson was made the co-executive director of the foundation who was a reader of Matt's blog. All the money that was raised through events like 5-kilometer walks and runs conducted by the foundation went to widows and widowers in need. A Celebration of Hope Gala event also started to be held in order to form a network supporting widowed families.
Matt Logelin was delighted to see his idea turning into reality. This made him more determined to work for the noble cause of helping families in a similar situation like his. In recognition of his work he did with the Liz Logelin Foundation he was made the guest speaker at the National Conference on Widowhood and Voice of America’s Healing the Grieving Heart. You can get an idea of the influence that Maddy's view had on the blog by a statement that Matt issued.“The minute Madeline says stop, that’s it. The plug gets pulled,” he said to his followers.
As already told before he had a special connection with India and had even visited the country with his wife. So, in the year 2009, he decided to visit the nation again after quitting his job this time with his daughter. It was Matt's innate desire to explore other career opportunities which tempted him to quit his job. Luckily, his decision proved right as the book he wrote titled Two Kisses for Maddy: A Memoir of Loss & Love went on to become a New York Times bestseller as well as the inspiration for an upcoming Channing Tatum movie. The Almighty had many more gifts for this family of two in store apart from this.
It was in the same year he visited India with his daughter that he starting dating Brooke Gullikson. Brooke was a volunteer of Liz Logelin Foundation whom Matt nervously asked for a drink around Thanksgiving 2009. They connected very well together just after the very first date together. Brooke met Maddy during Christmas after which Matt's bond with Brooke deepened even more. Though, people held a view different from theirs.
People didn't react in a way that Matt had expected after he announced the news of him being a relationship with Brooke through his blog. He moved with Brooke to Los Angeles and it was then that he decided to give an explanation to his readers. “Even in my darkest moments there has been happiness and with Brooke now in our lives, there’s even more happiness,” is what he wrote.
All the efforts of a couple of keeping their relationship away from media's attention went in vain when eventually, Brooke opened up about it in an interview with the Parenting.com. She told them about her emotions feeling like a “replacement mom” to Maddy. By the year 2013, the couple had made up their mind to part ways. But, fate had something more planned for Matt.
After breaking up with Brooke, Matt started dating Lizzie Molyneux writer of a sitcom series named Bob's Burgers. The two who had kept their relationship secret were seen together at a comedy benefit show for The Liz Logelin Foundation in October 2016. Were things going to work for Matt this time?
Matt and Lizzie got married on February 24, 2018, at Parker Palm Springs in California. They had managed to keep this news very private, but, it was through a wedding website that some of his readers found out about it which made it public. His book Two Kisses for Maddy: A Memoir of Loss & Love became so popular that it even caught the attention of Hollywood actor Channing Tatum.
Cable channel named Lifetime came up with the idea of screening an adaptation of Two Kisses for Maddy: A Memoir of Loss & Love with Marta Kaufmann as the executive producer. Sadly, it ended up being just an idea. But, the book's popularity raised manifold when the news of actor Channing Tatum making a movie inspired from it spread on April 2016. If everything goes well then there is a high chance that this project turns into reality.
Madeline is lucky to have been raised by such a caring and loving father who has tried his best to keep him away from being reminded of the tragedy that surrounded her and even dealing with it calmly. Matt has given the freedom to his daughter to follow her dreams and become a kind and a humble lady in the future. This is evident from the fact that she is an active participant in the activities related to the foundation and has developed quite a lot of interesting hobbies.
Matthew Logelin still takes care of the activities of the foundation as its president. He lives in Los Angeles with his daughter and can be seen going on tours across the world. In the meantime, Maddy Logelin has grown up with a quite dynamic personality.
Madeline's interest in knowing what happened to her mother when she was young has grown quite a lot. She regularly asks 10 years old March 24, 2018. She has been raised very well in the presence of her father and stepmother results of which are evident on seeing the girl.
She seems to be a girl with firm grit and determination. This can be seen in her decision of taking an action to help the people who suffered when Hurricanes Harvey and Irma struck in September and October 2017.
Maddy Logelin is deeply involved with the activities going on in the foundation. She can be seen actively participating in events conducted by the foundation and spreading awareness about the cause for which it was originally established.
The Liz Logelin Foundation has helped around 163 families who suffered from the demise of a dear one. They also provide financial help to widows and widowers, allowing “families to spend more energy on healing, on being a parent, a child, a family.”
Matt has also written a children's book named Be Glad Your Dad…(Is Not an Octopus!) .This particular picture is from the book which has adorable lines like “Be glad your dad is not a dog, because he would lick your face to say hello!”
Liz's death has thrown light on the increasing cases of women in the US dying while giving birth. The primary reason for this being the lack of attention given to mother during this process.
Matt Logelin's foundation and the blog has also inspired other single father's to share their stories socially. This has helped them to get valuable advice and the required help from others. Like Matt, Tim Overdiek, a Dutch journalist also started a blog named Diary of a Widower after his wife got killed in a car accident.