Two Kisses for Maddy

Before I even began reading Two Kisses For Maddie, I knew this book would be incredibly sad. Matthew Logelin chronicles his courtship and marriage to his wife, Liz, who was his soulmate. The two began dating in high school and were together twelve years, when just the day after giving birth to their first child, Liz collapsed after suffering a pulmonary embolism. She died in the hospital in front of Matthew on her way to hold her child for the first time. Matt began the overwhelming task of raising a child as a single parent along with dealing with the loss of his wife. This is not a happy story, yet watching Matt continue to move forward one day at a time, care for his daughter, and try to honor his wife's memory is somewhat hopeful. I was most struck by the pictures of Liz in the book's endpages, showing her as vibrant and full of life. Just as Matt seemed amazed of his wife's death- at times barely believing she had died- I also found it hard to imagine that this woman was no longer living. Logelin's website first attracted attention when the url was given in a Minneapolis newspaper, Logelin's hometown. The publicity this brought him helped him to reach out to other parents who had lost a spouse and eventually establish the Liz Logelin Foundation. Now, three years after Liz's tragic death Two Kisses for Maddy shares Logelin's story as a grieving widow, a new father, and helps put a human face to how a parent must go on after losing their partner.