A Widowed Dad Finds Support from Strangers
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In honor of Father's Day this Sunday, we decided to look back at one of our most emotional segments about a widowed father named Matt and his daughter Madeline.
In 2008, Matt experienced the most overwhelming joy as he and his wife Liz welcomed their new daughter, Madeline, followed by the most heartbreaking loss imaginable -- in just 27 hours.
"It went from my version of perfection to absolute hell," Matt -- whose high school sweetheart died suddenly in the hospital of a pulmonary embolism following a C-section -- said when we caught up with him in early 2009.
"My wife is dead," he recalls thinking. "I mean, what the hell do I do? I didn't know how to live without her."
However, he soon found a lifeline when he returned home with his baby girl and decided to use Liz's pregnancy blog as a way to communicate with his and her family.
"I just wanted to give them visual proof that I was succeeding," says the 31-year-old.
News about his blog and the honesty he displayed in it began to spread across the internet. And within months, more than 40,000 people were reading it every day -- and parenting tips (like how to best travel with a baby) began pouring in from strangers around the world.
"I never dreamt that people would actually give me advice or that they would actually help me through this process," Matt explained. "It helps me every day."
All Matt wanted was for his daughter to have the life that Liz would've wanted for her.
"She's number one," Matt sweetly said. "And she'll be number one the rest of my life."
Our hearts. ❤️
Now, while Matt's blog has become inactive since the last time we caught up with him nearly a decade ago, he assures his readers that he's just taking a break and hopes to see them soon.
In the meantime, you can read more about Matt and Madeline's story in Matt's 2011 New York Times bestseller, Two Kisses for Maddy: A Memoir of Loss and Love.
Not to mention that rumor has it actor Channing Tatum is producing a film based on the book.
We don't know about you, but we're keeping an eye out!
