Matt, Liz and Madeline

March 24th, 2008

-My cousin (Matt) and his wife (Liz) welcomed their first born, Madeline.
-Madeline arrived 8 weeks early; only 3 pounds 13 ounces; went to the NICU immediately

March 25th, 2008

-Liz passed away from a pulmonary embolism on the way to see her daughter in the neonatal intensive care unit (NICU) for the first time after the picture above (delivery). She never got to see her.

This very tragic story is having an incredible impact...

Liz was put on bedrest the final 5 weeks prior to delivering....and Matt kept a blog for updates.

When Liz passed away, Matt summoned up the courage to continue the daily blog:

...even in the midst of his unimaginable grief for Liz

...even in the midst of his overwhelming joy for Madeline

Is it even possible to feel two such opposing emotions...so much sadness, yet so much joy?

Before long, complete strangers began logging on to read his updates

(he is an incredibly talented writer...)

and those complete strangers are now:
-sending packages
-recognizing my cousin on the streets
-and publishing front page newspaper articles about their story "Without Liz"

My heart aches every time I think about Matt, Liz and Madeline, yet I go to the blog every single day to see what miraculous avenue Matt (who has lost almost 25 pounds) has been able to turn down today. He is an incredibly brave husband, father, and man!

One day at a time - 6 weeks and counting...

Please visit the blog - after your first good cry (it's therapeutic), you won't be able to turn away...I promise!