Extra: Widowed father's story captures the world's attention

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Click here to see a slideshow of Matt and Maddy Logelin

A fairy tale requires a few things: a shy handsome boy, a vibrant outgoing girl and a circumstance that goes against the grain.

"She picked me up at a gas station, we were both filling up our tanks," Matt Logelin said of the day he met his future wife, Liz. 

They began as a couple in 1996, at a Minnetonka gas station.

"We went out one night and she couldn't get rid of me," Matt recalled with a smile.

From that day forward, Matt knew, he'd found his truth. "She was 4 foot 11 inches.  A tiny little woman who carried herself like she was 15 feet tall.  It was amazing."

They were married three and a half years ago and in March of last year, their first child was on the way.

Born 7 weeks early, Madeline Logelin was nearly perfect.

That is what her mother saw just moments after delivery.  It would be the first and last time Liz saw her baby girl.

"It wasn't even a thought in my mind to worry about Liz.  She was 30 years old, in perfect health," Matt said of that day in March of 2008.

Liz spent more than a month on bed rest before the birth of Madeline.  The day after the delivery, Liz got out of her hospital bed to see her daughter in intensive care, but she never made it out of the room before she collapsed.

"They got her in the bed and doctors and nurses came in and then just two minutes later she was dead," Matt said.

Liz died of a pulmonary embolism.

Fairy tale, over.

In just 27 hours Matt Logelin went from doting husband and daddy-to-be, to widow and single parent.

"I was nervous about raising a baby, even with my wife Liz it would be an uphill battle raising a child," Matt said.

But it turns out, that Liz left this world with a gift greater that words.

Madeline would thrive, and grow.

She would mimic her mother in actions and in beauty.

"She got all these traits from her mom and she never even held her," Matt said.

Matt began life as a dad, the day before he began life as a single man, for the first time in 13 years.

He documented every move Maddy would make in photos and when night fell, he would pour out his heart on his blog.

"It's hard when Maddy goes to sleep, who do you talk to?" Matt said.

Over the last 18 months Matt's blog has become, literally, famous. More than a million people hang on his every word.  A book is now in the works.

The life he leads with Maddy has become so inspiring a foundation was formed to help people just like them. 

The Liz Logelin Foundation works to grant money to men and women who lose their partner to death, and are left to parent alone.

Yes, it's sad that Maddy will never know the soft kisses of her mother.

It is heartbreaking that Liz will never hear Maddy's infectious laugh.

But what is true, and real, is that Maddy is her mother in so many ways.

And just imagine, beyond the pain of losing her one precious life, that Liz's fairy tale, really did come true.

Matt and his late wife are Minnesota natives.

He is in town this weekend, to take part in two special events to benefit The Liz Logelin Foundation. 

Click here to see a slideshow of Matt and Maddy Logelin.

Click here for more about Matt and Maddy Logelin.

Click here for more on The Liz Logelin Foundation.

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