A memorial fund has been established for the Logelin family, contributions may be made to:
The Logelin Family Memorial
Care of: Wells Fargo
3250 Glendale Blvd
Los Angeles CA 90039
(323) 663-8023
or any Wells Fargo Bank branch.
Also, we have established a Paypal Account to help facilitate donations. Click on “Donate” below to make a donation via Paypal.
my sister an i read the article in people and were saddend and excited at the same time. you are avery responsible father. we belive we are related. our mother was marjorie logelin turnberg from minn.she had 2 bros Bob and Ray logelin.we have met her bros many years ago and lost contact. please respond
I too read the article in the People mag and it just broke my heart for you! However, what a wonderful life you are trying to give this little girl and also keeping her mother’s spirit alive! Not just anyone can do this ya know?? Blessings in this new year!
i read the article about your family today while i was on lunch and it was amazing. you are a wonderful dad and its great to no there are still a few goods ones out there,most men would”ve took off left the baby with other relatives but you didn”t . your baby is gorgeous and enjoy her everyday.
I think ALOT of people are going to be avid readers after viewing your People article. I also read it, and was saddened and actually a bit scared at what I read. At about 23 weeks, I was advised that my baby had low amniotic fluid, and they increased my fluid intake and put me on bedrest. I didnt really take it seriously, but as I was reading your blog today about the complications from the low amniotic fluid, I went straight to bed and drank a 32oz bottle of water LOL. You have done an amazing job of raising your daughter and coping with your loss. I am truly amazed at your strength. I will be checking this blog often, keep up the good work!!!
I read about you in People Magazine. What you are doing is amazing. I am a mother of a 27 year old daughter and a 3 yearold son. I experienced the baby blues after my son was born. I, (Thank God )got through it with alot of support from my husband and immediate family. I admire what you are doing in spite of what you have gone through. I wish you well and will keep you and your baby in my prayers.Hope you receive many blessings this year. Take care and stay well.
As many others did, I read the article in people and was absolutely taken by it. I had to come to your site and read more. I read from her birthdate until the present in one sitting! It was like reading a good book that made me feel like I was right there with your family. I hope you continue to allow us to watch this beautiful story take place. Best wishes to you and Madeline. You are such an inspiration.
Wow. I just cannot comprehend the immense sadness you must be feeling from that event. I offer my condolences, and if I could I would definitely raise money for you. You are indeed worthy of the money; you have a young child to raise and you have lost a loved one. But yet still you move forward and do what you can. That is a good father, and Madeline is blessed to have such a father. My best wishes to you and Madeline.
I think you are a truly amazing father, I know that Liz is very proud of you, and I am just blessed that Madeline has such a wonderful father, so many people do not know how blessed they are, they take life for granted. May god bless you and your little girl.
I came across your story surfing news on the net. I have been sitting here reading it for nearly an hour!
You are truly an amazing person. I have been going through a very different type of oddesy in my life with raising a child alone and you have certainly given me so much to be thankful for. I cannot commend you enough for your “just keep moving forward” spirit. A similar spirit of getting up and just going to work has seen me though when I’ve needed it. That you’ve not only started this fund, but have decided to redirect it to those less fortunate is an amazing gift.
I understand you don’t believe in God, and I respect that. I do, however believe in God and can see His love working in the world through your actions.
Thank you Matt, sincerely thank you – for giving me and so many others a great gift of gratitude. My mother always says, if you take everyone you know and put their problems in a basket, you’d take yours back every time. I hate to say it, but she’s right and your story has uplifted me!
Best wishes, Melissa
Dear Matt-my story cant compare with yours but my x basically wanted nothing to do with our kids after our divorce, I got custody of my girls when they were 9 and 5y/o & with my mother’s help we raised them. They are now 30 & 26- I am proud to say not only do I get Father’s Day but also Mother’s Day cards from both of them-its very touching that they think of me that way because I had to be both. Both I wasnt raised that way you have to learn how to do this both. Kudos out there to women whom also have to do both
I just read your story today and i am touched from the deepest part of my heart. I know that you don’t believe in God, but still i want to say God Bless you. You are blessed to have a cute little angel in your arm right now. I know that madelline will be loved with a loving father like you.
Matt,
You are raising an absolutely beautiful little girl. The first year is hard enough, without having to go through what you did. I am sure Liz would be overjoyed with the amazing job you are doing with Madeline. I know March will be a hard month, but you deserve to celebrate doing such a great job as you hit Madeline’s 1 year birthday. If you were a woman, I would tell you to “take yourself to the spa!”. Madeline is a lucky lady.
I am so sorry for your loss of your beloved wife. I cannot imagine what you are going through. I know it is so exciting to have a new daughter because of her but must be difficult when you cannot share her with the one who carried her for so long and who you dearly loved. Your story is very moving- KUDOS to you for asking for help- more women should feel so free to ask for help. It is a wonderful story of what you are doing and how well you are doing it. I wish there were more involved dads. I believe you are stronger than you realize.
Please know you are not alone in the blood clots/pulmonary embolisms your wife experienced. When I heard your story today on Rachel Ray, it is as if it were exactly my own. I delivered my beautiful, now 20 month old daughter, June 11, 2007, after 21-22 hours of labor, pain medicine wearing off, a C-section, the loss of our baby boy before her, almost losing my daughter at 6 weeks, spotting throughout her pregnancy, and being on Progesterone to hopefully sustain her pregnancy. After all of this, I could not help but feel something was still not right with me. The hospital asked me if I had ever had blood clots or if I had them now. Anxious to get home and my daughter, who was in the NICU, also, the 1st week of her life (jaundice, swallowed merconium/mucus, infection, fever); I quickly said no and VERY much regretted that decision July 17, 2007. My C-section hardly hurt at all, in comparison to the constant pain radiating throughout both my legs and lungs, especially my right leg. My legs had been very swollen towards the end of my pregnancy (OB/GYN dismissed my concerns- said it was normal)and the nurses in the NICU commented on it and told me it was water weight and would go down in several/six weeks, and come out through urine- only happened a little. I was taking pain medicine to cover up what I thought was the C-section, actually (UNKNOWN to me at the time), was severe, several blood clots that had formed in my legs and broken off into my lungs, as well. I demanded my husband hand me the phone and I called 911. They came to our house, and had to take me out in a chair because I could NOT MOVE my legs. From that moment on, I knew something was seriously wrong- every time they tried to get my legs, especially miy right one, to move, I would scream and wince because it hurt so much. Even labor, delivery, my C-section, and previous surgeries were painless, compared to this. When I got to the hospital, they said we got there just in time (SPEAK UP, LADIES, OR PARTNERS, IF YOU THINK SOMETHING IS WRONG!!). They told my husband to call my family and my mom came right back down from Nashville to help me with my recovery and my husband with our newborn daughter. They told us no more children because something about my body did not tolerate well the hormones of pregnancy. I think it was also because I was on the pill for years before becoming pregnant, so I could finish graduate school, and because of the spotting in her pregnancy, I had to stay off my feet a lot-obviously, little circulation. The tests they ran on me in the hospital included Dopplers, ultrasounds, chest/x-rays of both of my legs and lungs. Sure enough, thank God, they found that I had developed BLOOD CLOTS IN BOTH OF MY LEGS THAT BROKE OFF INTO MY LUNGS, CAUSING PULMONARY EMBOLISMS IN MY LUNGS AS WELL. They immediately put me on Coumadin, the blood thinnner; put in a filter in my right abdomen to filter out any new blood clots that might develop; and told me I would have to stay on the blodd thinnner, Coumadin, for at least 6 months to ensure all blood clots and pulmonary embolisms were gone. I could not eat dark green leafy vegetables (broccoli, spinach)- hard because I have my Master’s in Public Health, or alcohol (no loss because I don’t drink). When on blood thinner, one must take 1 or 1/2 tablet, daily, based on your bloodwork, and be tested daily, weekly, biweekly, monthly, to ensure your blood is thin but not too thin. I also had to waer these stocking that help circulation in your legs, like for elderly people, and they said I MUST walk at least 30 MINUTES daily to ensure circulation (which I still do). I am so grateful for my mother who came back down from Nashville because every step to my recovery, literally, was EXTREMELY painful. I can still remember getting out of the hospital and going to get my PT-INR tests (tests blood levels when on Coumadin/blood thinners)., and I could hardly walk. I am now off of all Coumadin and have been for several months now. I can eat my DGLV (which I love) but I still don’t drink much- maybe one every now and then. I am so grateful for the hospital’s, doctors, nurses, when I was in the ICU, when my fighter/daughter was in the NICU, my husband and mother for their help in my LONG recovery back, her godmother who watched her the 1st several months of her life. My point in all of this is LISTEN TO YOUR BODY. IF SOMETHING DOES NOT FEEL RIGHT, DO NOT BE AFRAID TO SAY SOMETHING TO YOUR DOCTORS- YOU WOULD BE AMAZED HOW MANY WOMEN HAD THIS BEFORE YOU WHILE PREGNANT, JUST AS I FOUND OUT, AS I ALSO FOUND WHEN I HAD LOST OUR SON, HOW MANY WOMEN HAD HAD MISCARRIAGES.
I truly wish you all the best in your joy of fatherhood and that you will look into your children’s eyes/resemblances of your wife all the times you miss her and remember she is with you. I am so, so sorry, for your loss, and am grateful you are here to do such a wonderful job in raising your family and asking for help. To all women who are or plan to become pregnant, ASK QUESTIONS AND SPEAK UP. I pray you never have to experience what I did.
through madeline you are keeping lizs spirt and memory alive. you are a wonderfull father
Hi Matt:
I’m usually not home during the week but I was in car accident and I was watching Rachel Ray. Don’t worry I’m ok just brusied. I cried here your story about liz and you’re a GREAT dad. Just keep doing what you’re doing and use this saying from AAA etc. “Take a day at a time”.
My reason for this comment I want to start a blob for my adult son who is 38 years old and high functioning (Asberger). Austim is weird it goes from Bill Gates to Rain Man. Robert is his name and he’s independent as he drives, works part-time and lives with a buddy (he’s disabled, too). Right now we were very lucky that he has some state money but in July it will finished. As according to the rules he’ll not receive it any more. As he’s has about a 160 IQ so he falls through every hole there’s. As his mom I’ll fight for him everyway I can and the state of Maryland (DDA) hasn’t seen the end of this yet. Once someone like Robert is an adult there’s very limit resources out there. They feel the disability goes away (ha!ha!) . So, this why I need to learn how to go about this for all of who have disabled adult children, etc. As you found out there are caring people out here and love your blog. I’ll try to E-mail you which I’m not to good at that.
My younger son and his wife are expecting my first granddaughter in June. You can give advice as I’d two boys!!!!
Give a kiss and hug to Maddie she’s a cutie pie.
Harriet
god bless you both and liz is a beautiful angel
I just watched you on Oprah. Thank you for bringing the hardship of single parenting to light. I was 3 months pregnant with my son (and also had a child in 1st grade) when my husband suddenly died. His family lived in europe and mine lived far away. I’ve never had family near, and sometimes I just want to scream bloody murder….
It is hard. It doesn’t get any better (other than you don’t have to change their diapers.) You give the money away, and I commend you for doing that, but you might want to set up a fund for your daughter. It is pretty easy in the beginning (although I never had the means to buy nice clothes for them) it just gets so much harder later on. Or luxury is to have a half gallon of ice cream every now and then. We don’t shop, don’t go to movies, etc. and we hardly stay above water.
I would suggest saving some of the money for when she gets older. All I do now is juggle money from credit card to credit card. I receive no social security, since my husband was from europe and never received citizenship. It just gets overwhelming sometimes, and it would be easier for you if you just establish a trust fund or something. Otherwise you will end up not sleeping through the night, as I do. Luckily, I say prayers when I can’t sleep, so the night is not completely wasted. I pray for everyone that is going thorugh hard times, those who have lost children, and those about to commit suicide. It makes me feel better.
I will keep an eye on you to see how your journey with your sweet angel is going. One thing that is very important is knowing your wife is up there watching over you. She will be there for your support, and protect both of you.
And if you remember anything, remember God lost his Son, so when you get sad and even mad, remember that whatever you are going through, I’m sure God went through as he witnessed his Son nailed to the cross….
Take care and keep the faith!!
needing2chimagain@yahoo.com
Matt – I’ve been reading your blog for about a year now – and I am reminded of God’s unending Grace every time I see photos of you and your beautiful daughter. I have three beautiful daughters of my own (ages 11, 10 and Terrible Two).
I see what a remarkable example you are setting for ALL fathers in this world and making them think how they would handle things if the mother of their children, the love of their life passed away suddenly. You have definitely set the bar very high! Your photography captures every emotion and its a joy to read your blog and watch how Madeline and you are growing together… any mother and wife, especially Liz, would be proud of all you’re doing…
Hi Matt. I think you are beyond an inspiration for the spirit of integrity, grace and resilience. All human beings could take a few words of wisdom from you and be in a better place. My question is, how do I help a new widower. A man I know lost his wife to post partum depression this past Sunday. His wife had given birth 3 weeks ago. I am deeply pained by this and am searching any way possible that I can assist him. If you have any ideas or directions I should lean in it would be greatly appreciated.
Thank you and may God bless you abundantly,
Jenny