Two Kisses for Maddy

Title: Two Kisses for Maddy: A Memoir of Loss & Love

Author: Matthew Logelin

Publisher: Grand Central Publishing

ISBN: 9780446564304

Published: April 2011

Two Kisses for Maddy is the type of story no one imagines having to tell, the kind of story no one wants to be real. Matt and Liz Logelin meet their senior year of high school. Their relationship survives college long-distance, with Matt in Minnesota and Liz in California, and real world distance when Matt’s work later takes him around the world for months at a time. Their determination and love for one another seems to be leading to a storybook life: they buy a beautiful home and Liz learns she is pregnant with a baby girl. Her pregnancy is difficult and plagued by severe nausea and bouts of bed rest. Still, Matt and Liz are certain it will all be worth it.

On March 24, 2008, Madeline “Maddy” Logelin is born premature. Twenty-seven hours later, before ever holding Maddy, Liz passes away from a pulmonary embolism. Matt is suddenly thrust into two completely foreign roles: single father of a premature baby girl, and grieving widow. Almost instantly, Matt makes an inspired decision: he will not give up; he will not be consumed by his grief. He will live on so that he can be a good father to Maddy. What follows, and takes most of the book, is Matt’s inspiring journey in the first year of Maddy’s life and the first year without Liz.

At its heart, Two Kisses for Maddy is a story of life and death and how we all cope with both. Though there are funny moments and wonderful stories of Matt and Liz’s courtship, there are also moments of complete sadness and heartache. Matt fears his daughter won’t know about her mother, or will be at a disadvantage later on in life when she doesn’t have a mother to take her shopping or to the spa, as Liz planned. Two Kisses for Maddy is a beautiful tribute to Liz Logelin’s memory and life, and the wonderful story of a father’s love for his daughter.

--Kyla Paterno