The Liz Logelin Foundation, which Matt established in memory of his late wife, has continued to thrive, providing support and assistance to widows, widowers, and families in similar situations.
This love story is equal parts beautiful and painful. When they first met, fell in love, and had a child, Liz died in childbirth. Matt’s actions after her death were incredibly inspiring.
High school students Liz Goodman and Matt Logelin first crossed paths one sunny afternoon at a gas station. Both grew up in Minnetonka, Minnesota, but their chance meeting marked the beginning of a true love story.
Liz and Matt met in their senior year of high school. Sparks flew when she approached Matt when he caught her eye, and they were close until it was time for college.
As graduation approached, the high school sweethearts had to face the fact that they were attending colleges in different parts of the country! Unlike Matt, who stayed at the University of Minnesota, Liz traveled to California.
The distance was nothing for this couple who endured and stuck together throughout their studies. Matt went on to earn a master’s degree from Loyola University of Chicago. He considered getting a Ph.D. when he realized that he had to follow his heart and not his mind.
Matt knew he couldn’t bear to be so separated from his love any longer. To be with Liz, he moved halfway across the country to Los Angeles in 2005, where he packed up.
From that moment on, they both led full lives. While traveling, Liz and Matt explored new places, made memories, and deepened their understanding of each other and the world they lived in. It was only a matter of time before Matt realized this was it and got down on one knee in Nepal. ask Liz to marry him.
In front of their friends and family, they exchanged vows of love forever on August 13, 2005. It was exciting to watch these young people grab life and their love by the horns; Everything seems to be fine for the young couple.
They were happier than ever in their romantic relationships, but also in their professional lives. Liz worked as a financial professional at Disney, while Matt was a project manager at Yahoo! in California. The two decide to buy a house together to take advantage of their newfound financial security. It only got better from there.
After two years of marriage in 2007, the couple decided to expand their family and were thrilled to find out that Liz was carrying their first child!
The couple was ecstatic and immediately told their family and friends about their happiness. The couple began to prepare for the joyful addition of their new offspring to the family. Little did they realize that their lives would be put to the test in ways they never imagined.
Because many of Liz and Matt’s friends and family live in Minnesota, they were unable to accompany them on their amazing journey to motherhood. Soon the parents decided to act and started a blog to inform their loved ones about the development of Liz’s pregnancy.
In one of Matt’s favorite pictures posted, Liz, a happy mother-to-be, is beaming and showing off her growing bump. Little did they realize that the film would eventually contribute to a global phenomenon.
The journey seemed to be cheerful and joyful for the happy couple as they were expecting their first child, but Liz had a difficult pregnancy. Doctors advised her to spend several weeks in bed because she had excruciating morning sickness.
Matt watched her closely, fearing that his wife was carrying his child. It was disturbing to see Liz, who is often active and robust, bedridden. She was then taken to the hospital and told to stay in bed for a few more weeks. Matt followed their newly launched pregnancy blog throughout the ordeal. He had no idea what he was about to post on this particular site.
Because Liz’s pregnancy was considered high-risk, she was brought to the delivery room twice, each time at least 7 weeks early, due to false alarms. The doctors kept a close eye on her because they didn’t want to take any chances.
The baby’s entrance into the world was finally ready. Liz was still two months early, requiring an emergency c-section. On March 24, 2008, the lives of Matt and Liz Logelin were to undergo a significant change.
The couple welcomed Madeline (Maddy) Logelin into their family after the procedure went smoothly. She weighed barely 3 pounds, 14 ounces when she was born. Liz got a brief glimpse of their adorable little girl because the new parents were so happy (it was photographed). Hospital staff rushed to get her to the Neonatal Intensive Care Unit (NICU) because she was born early.
In an effort to inform family and friends of the birth, Matt posted on his pregnancy blog: “Proud parents will continue to let everyone know about our beautiful baby,” I expect to hear more encouraging news tonight. However, no one was prepared for the shocking revelation that would follow.
Since Liz had to be kept under observation for the next 24 hours after the birth, she couldn’t hold their daughter right away. Once it was over, Liz was ready and eager to see her baby girl who was now awake and healthy. She started using a wheelchair in the ward.
Matt couldn’t wait to hold both of his wives in his arms, so he was there to help his wife practice walking around the room before entering the ward. They were about to experience the mother-child quality time they had all been looking forward to. Then disaster struck.
As his wife curled into his arms and muttered, “I feel confused,” Matt gently and gently helped her into the wheelchair. In an attempt to reassure Matt, the nurses explained that it was common for women to pass out after giving birth.
However, Matt could feel that it wasn’t quite right and that it wasn’t just fainting. As they rushed around the room, the doctors and nurses began to respond more quickly. At that moment, Matt was ushered out of the area. When he was alone, he couldn’t suppress his panic and felt more helpless than ever.
Matt patiently recalled, “All of a sudden there’s a ‘code blue’ and people are racing me.” He broke down in tears and told The Guardian in 2011: “All of a sudden it hit me.” “She would never hold her child,” said the nurse. “She was supposed to die in this hospital today.
Just 27 hours, or just over a day, after giving birth to their daughter Madeline, doctors discovered that a fatal clot had entered Liz’s lungs and caused a rare, fatal pulmonary embolism. Liz died at the age of 30, just hours after giving birth to a fatal embolism. Matt left his widow one day after becoming a father.
In a single day, Matt went from feeling on top of the world to fearing for his life. He was devastated. The pregnancy blog was supposed to be full of pictures of the growing family, but instead, his subsequent essay was all about melancholy.
After the exciting birth announcement a few days ago, Matt was now tasked with breaking the news to his friends and family and posting a heartbreaking obituary for the love of his life. In a blog post titled “Liz,” he mourned: “Five weeks ago everything was beautiful.” “That day everything in my world came crashing down around me.
You can imagine the complex and intense feelings of a new father when he realizes how his world is turned upside down when he discovers that he is both a heartbroken weeping widow and a besotted new father. In addition, he was faced with the possibility of having to raise Maddy alone.
Matt was grieving and coming to terms with the death of his partner of 12 years. Matt was unable to see the light as he faced the possibility of starting the parenting journey alone and the grief of losing his soul mate. The only source of comfort and optimism he found was his young child. Knowing that his wife would never be able to hold their child, he pulled Madeline from her sobbing sister and hugged her for the first time.
After the funeral, the new father, who was still in his suite, rushed back to the hospital. Reflecting on his grief and being a single parent after Madeline was released from the hospital, Matt said: “When I was finally able to bring Madeline home for the first time, it felt like the house was alive again.”
The first few weeks were the worst Matt had ever experienced. Every Tuesday at precisely 3:11 p.m., his thoughts returned to that fateful moment when his life changed forever because he couldn’t bear to take off his wedding ring. At times he openly questioned how he would manage his new life without Liz by his side.
There were problems when returning home. Everywhere Matt turned there were sour reminders of Liz. When guests asked about the baby’s mother, Matt honestly and openly answered, “She died the day after the baby was born,” because even leaving the house was hard.
The only comfort Matt felt in those early days as a widower was the knowledge that his young daughter needed him and the idea that a part of his beloved wife lived on in Madeline. Not having Liz around when she died was the saddest aspect of being alone, especially since she couldn’t join us in celebrating the birth of our brand-new baby.
Matt was adamant that despite his grief, he would give his daughter the best possible upbringing. He is looking for a way to express his feelings of fear and anxiety. He began posting on a parenting discussion forum hosted by his hometown, The Minnesota Star Tribune. But it didn’t end there.
He also converted Liz’s pregnancy blog into a personal parenting blog. He found peace in writing because he could fully express himself and use words as a desperate measure of comfort for the intense emotions he was going through.
Thanks to his open writing, Matt was able to prevent grief from completely consuming him in his role as a parent and widow. He also asked other parents for advice and support during this difficult time.
Matt devoted his time to ensuring the happiness of his young daughter Madeline and teaching her about Liza’s past so that she would know what a wonderful woman she was. Liz is someone I have fond memories of and can tell her everything that happened. Maddy wasn’t the only person who had to deal with these memories either.
“There are times when I’m really happy and other times I’m so depressed I don’t know what to do.” He said, “I’m trying to get that across through the blog.” The blog soon turned into something more, with long-term consequences for the little family.
Although Matt wasn’t sure what the blog would end up being, he thought about using it as a kind of online notebook for Madeline when she was older. He changed the title of the book to “Matt, Liz, and Madeline: Life and Death in a 27-Hour Period.” But before long this forum will grow beyond just a memento for him and Maddy; he would also become a well-known internet phenomenon.
Matt got tips on anything related to Maddy, including how to use nasal aspirators and treat diaper rash. It also created a community for other parents facing the same issues. In addition, the forum received 1 million to 1.5 million visits per month and tens of thousands of page views every day. But what would that mean for Matt?
The blog has evolved from something unbelievably awful to a place of comfort, hope, and inspiration. In addition to lots of helpful advice from other parents, it provided a therapeutic outlet. The online community came together for something really important and heartfelt, and also for supportive notes.
Although it was never his intention, Matt began to receive help and gifts from complete strangers who were touched by his story. People sent Maddy a wide variety of useful goods to ease the burden of the situation and allow her to focus on raising her child and dealing with her grief.
He started getting things he didn’t even know he needed! You name it: toys, children’s clothes, and stuffed animals. He asked for baby formula, hair clips, and diaper bags because he was afraid he wouldn’t be able to dress Madeline the way Liz wanted.
Soon the house was overflowing with gifts. He said: “I never expected people to care for us as much as they did. With the help of some of his ardent supporters, Matt ended up setting up a non-profit foundation in Liz’s honor to spread love and support further than he ever imagined.
The entirely volunteer-run Liz Logelin Foundation has organized fundraising events like 5-K walks and runs in her honor. One event raised $4,400 which went to Matt and Maddy. Matt, on the other hand, had a different idea of how to honor his wife’s memory.
According to Rachel Engebretson, co-executive director of the charity, “Matt asked if it was okay to give away all the money raised for him and Madeline to widows and widowers he met through his blog.” He wanted to help them because they “didn’t have the same support system.”
The Celebration of Hope, one of several events hosted by the Liz Logelin Foundation, was held the weekend closest to Liz’s birthday, September 17th. Numerous auctions are held to benefit charities. She also participates in a regular 5K walk/run in Minnesota, where she was born.
Every year the foundation holds the same 5K Walk/Run, but it takes place somewhere else in the world. People are encouraged to buy race packs and walk or run in their area. All net proceeds from this venture go to the Liz Logelin Foundation. As a former runner, Liz finds immense satisfaction in seeing these things come to life. But the story doesn’t end there.
After some time, Matt realized how much his late wife’s image was in little Maddy and how essential the blog was to his coping and survival. It’s a love letter to Madeline and Liz in many ways, he said.
I want Madeline to know that her father didn’t immediately curl up in a ball and start drinking, even if Liz never reads it. The Daily Mail quoted him as saying: “I want her to know that I was out there doing everything I could and trying to make her as happy as I could.” However, he had no intention of letting the blog run indefinitely.
After a year, Matt intended to shut down the site, but so many widows, widowers, and understanding parents have found comfort and connection there. Its enormous popularity and extraordinarily positive effects on so many people proved otherwise.
Matt and Maddy decided to focus their time and efforts on helping people in a similar situation after being shocked by the overwhelming response to their blog. But soon after, both of them took a different path, which once again significantly changed the surroundings.
Matt was driving, just before Maddy’s first birthday, when four characters suddenly came to mind. He can’t remember what he was thinking. They were Liz’s bank account PIN numbers, he remembered. He really lost all memory of the incident.
With the money he discovered in the account, Matt decided to throw a lavish birthday party for his young daughter. Because in addition to Liz’s birthday, it was also the anniversary of her death.
When Matt decided to quit his job in 2009 and invest the money in a cleansing journey for him and his Maddy, their lives changed forever. They continued on to India, where Matt could write the memoir alone. India held a special place in Matt and Liz’s hearts as they traveled there a year after their wedding.
In addition to giving his young daughter Maddy a love of travel that Liz cherished, he also managed to write his memoir Two Kisses for Maddy: A Memoir of Loss and Love and bond with his daughter during the two months they were together. away from the busy city life.
Although the tide has only recently begun to turn in the right direction, the book immediately shot to the top of the New York Times bestseller list.
Matt was once interviewed about his experiences as a single father and his story. He claimed he won several awards for raising Maddy alone, but he doesn’t believe he’s doing anything special compared to other parents.
Matt decided to stay home with Maddy during her early years to raise her. On the other hand, he does not consider it exceptional. He feels that by becoming a father, he is only taking care of his daughter’s basic needs.
In the year his book about his first year as a widower and single father was published, it looked like love might be in the cards again. He began dating Brooke Gulliksen, a volunteer for the Liz Logelin Foundation.
The two had first bonded at one of the group’s annual charity races a year earlier. It was a year after they first met before Matt felt confident enough to ask her out. Brooke claimed she met Maddy at Christmas and immediately knew Matt was the one. It seemed that the young widower’s circumstances were finally improving.
When Brooke moved from Minnesota to Los Angeles to be closer to Matt and Maddy, he felt compelled to explain it on his blog. The forum turned into an online family for him and he felt compelled to be honest and forthright in his choices. He emphasized that he had not replaced Liz, adding: “But even in my worst times there was happiness and with Brooke now in our lives, there is even more happiness.
At first, the couple tried to keep their relationship a secret, but it soon became public. However, not everyone was so enthusiastic. Most readers of Matt’s blog were sympathetic, while some were harsher, accusing him of “sweeping Liz under the rug.”
It was clear that Brooke and Maddy’s relationship was serious from the first time they met. From the beginning, Brooke was clear that she wasn’t trying to replace Liz as a mother, and she constantly discussed it with Maddy.
When asked if Maddy called her mother “mom”, Brooke replied that Maddy called her “Brookie”. While Brooke acknowledged that it wasn’t easy to transition from a single person to a mother figure, she wouldn’t trade her relationship with Matt and Maddy for anything.
In the interview, Brooke was asked about her relationship with widower Matt Logelin. She claimed she started reading about it and even finished Matt’s book. She was curious how a widower handled their situation. She was sure it would strengthen their bond.
Brooke was helped by various people and organizations. She got some advice from a woman who is married to a widower and is one of the most passionate supporters of Matt’s blog. The two women began to correspond frequently and became close. However, things were not good between Matt and Brooke.
Now that the word had gotten out, they couldn’t keep low anymore. Soon after, Brooke spoke to Parenting.com for an interview where she expressed her feelings and thoughts about becoming a “surrogate mom.” In the summer of 2013, Matt and Brooke’s relationship turned sour.
Even though Matt’s relationship with Brooke didn’t work out, he still had hope for love as he posted about their breakup on Facebook.
After Brooke left, Matt had some time to himself to focus on Maddy. But soon after, rumors began to circulate about him and Lizzie Molyneux, creator of the animated series Bob’s Burgers.
The accusation appeared to be true when the two split up on stage at a comedy show in the fall of 2016 to raise money for The Liz Logelin Foundation. To avoid spreading rumors about their relationship, the couple requested anonymity. On the other hand, curious fans did some research and made an amazing discovery.
Matt’s friendship with Brooke taught him the value of keeping things private. He and Lizzie Molyneux kept their relationship largely under wraps for the privacy of their daughter Madeline. On the other hand, some fans did some investigating and found something amazing!
Fans have found Matt and Lizzie’s wedding website! Little did anyone know, this secretive couple had already taken their romance to the next level and secretly got married in Palm Springs, California in February 2018. Although Matt prefers to keep his personal life private these days, one A-lister has become interested in his stories about Maddy.
The Lifetime network considered turning Matt Logline’s memoir Two Kisses for Maddy: A Memoir of Loss and Love into a television series in 2012. Martia Kauffman was slated to lead the television project, but it never materialized.
2016 brought rumors that Channing Tatum might appear in a more expensive Hollywood adaptation of the book. In the upcoming father-daughter thriller, the famous actor will act as an executive producer and possibly in the lead role. But what will happen to Matt and Maddy now?
No one can doubt that Matt experienced his terrible grief. However, through this unexpected journey of grief, challenges, and hope, he was able to understand and inspire others to rise from adversity and make the best of what seems to be the worst.
According to Matt, Liz was usually the one to leave while he stayed in the background. In light of it all, he became more outgoing and became a guest columnist for Glamor magazine as well as a speaker at many bereavement and widowhood summits. How is little Maddy doing now after all this?
Maddy Logelin turned ten years old on March 24th, 2018. The same anniversary marked ten years since the horrible death of her mother Liz. Her father, family, and friends did everything they could to surround her with love and happiness despite her horrific history.
Matt made the details of his blog less private as Maddy got older. The moment Madeline yells “Stop,” it’s over. He always made sure that “the plug would be pulled”. Over the years, Maddy learned about her mother through stories and pictures, and her interest in her only grew.
One day she innocently asked, “Dad, did you hold my mom’s hand when she died?” She often asks her father about the activities he and her late mother shared, but one, in particular, brought Matt to tears.
Despite Matt’s best efforts to be honest and explain things to his young daughter, “What I said will never erase what happened that day,” he added. Thinking back on the discussion, Matt noticed that Maddy was perfectly aware of what he wanted to hear before he said, “Dad, I love you.” I love you too, Maddy,” he said.
Matt’s journey as a single father, widower, and attorney has come to an end, and the impact of his story will continue to reverberate through time. As long as there are people who face grief and loss, the Liz Logelin Foundation will stand as a beacon of light, offering comfort, community, and reassurance that they are not alone.
In a world that often seemed divided, Matt’s story was a reminder of the power of empathy and understanding, the ability to lift one another up, and the importance of cherishing every moment of love and connection.
As Matt Logelin and Maddy embraced the future with hope and resilience, they knew Liz’s spirit would always be with them, guiding their steps and reminding them to embrace life’s precious moments.
And so the love story of Matt, Liz, and Maddy continued not only on the pages of the blog or in the memories of those who knew them but in the hearts of all those who were touched by their journey of love, and loss. and the beauty of second chances.