Purple for Maddie
Soothing purple hues lit up Twitter home pages and mom blogs nationwide this month, allowing mothers, fathers and anyone with a technologically tuned-in heart to cherish the glowing spirit of a beloved child, Maddie Spohr.
It was only apropos that such a swath of color that beautifully blends at both the beginning and end of a rainbow pigmented hundreds of the web community’s various site backdrops and messages.
After all, these very same users rapturously followed a mother’s perspective of her bright-eyed daughter’s equally beautiful, albeit short, life from before her premature birth in 2007 until her death on April 7 from related complications.
Accompanied by an overwhelming buzz of supportive words, the purple filter unified the social networking community in an unparalleled virtual gesture to honor the 17-month old as her grieving family laid her to rest in Hollywood Hills, California on April 14.
“Today has been surreal. All of your love has held us up, helped us breathe, carried us through. There are no words for you all,” wrote Heather later that night on her Twitter page, mamaspohr.
An active blogger since 2002, Heather refocused her words in 2007 to celebrate her and her husband, Mike’s, introduction to parenthood via her blog, The Spohrs are Multiplying, and on Twitter. (Equally beholden by the happiness brought on by his once three-pound daughter’s Nov. 11 birth, Mike also opted to share his thoughts on fatherhood on his blog, The Newborn Identity.)
Understandably proud of their creation, not one iota of Maddie’s life remained amiss on Heather’s blog: from the email that spurred their joy (and a humorous warning not to spend as much money as she did on six, yes six, pregnancy tests, just to make certain the dream is real) to their little Madeline Alice Spohr’s now infamous crush on The Today Show’s Matt Lauer.
Humorous, witty, inspirational and occasionally sentimental when she detailed the health struggles launched by Maddie’s 11-week premature birth, Heather’s updates roped in loyal followers rooting each time they logged onto their computers for the tousled-blonde girl with the awesome apple-cheeked smile.
Heather’s facetious introduction on her blog also caused scores of people to willing allow a conflicted angel to hop onto their shoulders: “You should read because at the very least, we’re more interesting than that spreadsheet you’re supposed to be working on or that pile of dishes sitting in your sink. And you KNOW you love reading about medical drama, embarrassing situations, and freaking adorable babies,” she wrote.
We were hooked. And what a “freaking adorable baby” Heather and Mike created.
Maddie possessed such a star-shining charisma that even Hollywood stars noticed. Clearly touched by Maddie, Jimmy Fallon a stopped by mamaspohr to encourage the Spohr family to “hang in there.”
The Spohrs are trying.
Both Heather and Mike are still actively blogging on their sites since Maddie’s death. Heather even posted the blog entry “My Little Maddie Moo,” to share the words some web friends claim she spoke at Maddie’s funeral service. She also is steadily moving forward to raise funds for The March of Dimes to honor the “March for Maddie” walk she intended to take with and in honor of her daughter on April 25. Her efforts -and through the help of the “Purple for Maddie” Internet phenomenon- Heather has raised more than $30,000 to help both sick and premature babies and their mothers.
The Spohr’s special color, purple, which symbolizes the March of Dimes logo, also prevails.
Purple simply refuses to fade from many, many web sites, mom blogs and Twitter pages. Friends and strangers, alike, continue to support the Spohrs whether it is by continuing to offer meaningful words of support or rallying web surfers to never forget Maddie.
Since her death, several efforts developed in Maddie’s honor, including dozens of independent March for Maddie walks, the Operation Purple Balloon launch, a Maddie photo badge to post on web pages, as well as a PayPal account to help defer the Spohr’s funeral costs, amongst others.
A post office box also was set up for people to send cards and other written words of support: 11870 Santa Monica Boulevard. #106-514, West Los Angeles, CA 90025
As for Heather’s next mission, she’ll continue to advocate on behalf of premature infants and their families. Of course, the tenacious Tweeter is gonna face that challenge with the same gumption as her precious daughter showed in life.
“Seeing all the purple still means so, so much to me. Hopefully it helps to convince @RealHughJackman to give to the March of Dimes,” she wrote in reference to the actor’s vow to donate $100,000 to a charity of choice to a tweeter with an impressive pitch.
Well, Mr. Jackman, let us tell you a story about a little girl named Maddie…
