Madeline's Memorial Information

Dear friends and family,

We’ve landed safely (and a day later than expected) back in Denver. Lisa’s sister Linda and her husband planned the trip and took our kids for the weekend so we could sit on a beach in Mexico and get some alone time to relax, grieve, pray together, and start thinking about a memorial for Madeline. We had some good food, played in the waves, slept A LOT, and got something in between a sun tan and a sun burn.

Thank you all again for your continued love and support for us and for Madeline Grace Wiegel. We are continually amazed at God’s goodness in the midst of all of this and the far reaching stretch of Madeline’s story as we continue to hear from people we haven’t heard from in a while and also those whom we haven’t even met. It’s now obvious to us that the impact of Madeline’s short life on earth will be felt for much longer.

We are still in the planning stages of the memorial services, but would like to announce a date and location. The memorial services for Madeline Grace Wiegel will be held on Monday, February 7th, 2011 from 11a-2p. The services will be hosted graciously by Greenwood Community Church in Denver, CO, located at 5600 E Belleview Avenue, Greenwood Village, CO 80111. For directions and information you may contact the church at (303) 843-0281.

We are making this an open invitation to all who desire to attend. We don’t know how many people know our daughter and don’t wish to exclude anyone who would like to connect and grieve and celebrate with us the miracle of our daughter’s life. We do ask please that you RSVP so we can approximate the number of people attending and make preparations accordingly. Please RSVP via email to ShankerW@yahoo.com, in the subject line write “RSVP” and include the total number of people attending.

In lieu of flowers, we have asked that donations be made in honor of Madeline Grace Wiegel. The money will be used to cover any memorial service expenses, for a family vacation, and to set up a memorial fund for Madeline Grace. This journey has required us to spend a lot of time away from our other 3 children and we think it would be fun to take some time out of our busy lives to get away as a family.

We haven’t quite figured out how Madeline’s memorial fund would work, but we expect it to be a long term ongoing fund to support the Children’s Hospital and to benefit families who are currently living in the NICU at Children’s, where our daughter once lived. If you would like to contribute to the fund, please send checks to Shanker & Lisa Wiegel, 460 Prairie Ridge Road, Highlands Ranch, CO 80126.

If you would like information on how to donate directly to the Children’s Hospital in honor of Madeline Grace, please contact Katherine Schroeder at The Children’s Hospital Foundation. Her number is (720) 777-1755 and her email is kschroeder@tchfden.org. She has been very helpful in helping us to setup this fund.

Thank you all for the cards, correspondence, emails, fundraising and generosity so far. Thank you that we came home to a clean house. It is truly overwhelming. The thing we most look forward to is the stories of how Madeline’s short life has touched yours. Your words have been so touching that we have found that we can only read 3 or 4 cards at a time and then we have to take a break and regroup. So thank you again, for EVERYTHING, for your generosity, kind words, and prayers.

Please continue to keep us in your prayers as we plan Madeline’s memorial service. Pray for wisdom for the things to say and do that will best help people to reconnect and remember our little daughter. Pray for wisdom for how to use funds collected to benefit as many families as possible and for the best way to help them. Pray for peace to continue to reign in our lives as we cope with the loss of our youngest daughter.

And now for some good news….we’re pregnant, unexpected and unbelievable.

Grace,
Shanker & Lisa.