Melinda Miller Etheridge

20 years- cant believe it has been that long. I got married in 1994 and we had our firstborn son, Matthew in 1996. We moved to Rockford to be closer to his cardiologist and then moved to the suburbs in 1999 to be closer to the heart team here. Matthew was a wonderful boy who was born with a congenital heart defect and had 3 open heart surgeries before he was 2. Matthew lived a wonderful life enjoying his friends and loving baseball. He passed away in Aug 2003 a week before his first day of 2nd grade due to a virus that caused brain swelling and had nothing to do with his heart condition. Our second child Emma was 6 months when he passed and will be 6 in Feb. We now have our 3rd child Max who will be 4 in March. My husband, Dan, and I have hosted 5 golf outings in Matthew's memory donating to The Make A Wish Foundation and The Ronald McDonald House at Hope Children's Hospital in Oak Lawn. Matthew was granted a wish by Make A Wish and I have been a volunteer with Make A Wish as well. Taking care of my children has been my main job in life. I work part time at a doctor's office and I am a Medical Transcriptionist. We have endured the worst that can happen to any parent (or couple) and have survived strong throughout it. I am proud of the family we have built together.

My son Matthew
My dad