Brenda Matejcek held her 2-year-old daughter Taylor on her lap while multi-instrumentalist Dean Kaelin performed for a select audience at Ronald McDonald House. Joshua Matejcek, who is 9, sat nearby. The occasion was a preview of Kaelin's upcoming Christmas concert.
But Jesica Matejcek, whose illness brought the family to Ronald McDonald House, couldn't join the fun. The 3-year-old is preparing for her third open-heart surgery at Primary Children's Medical Center.Kaelin and his band will present their "If I Had a Wish for Christmas" concert at 7 p.m. Monday, Dec. 20, in Kingsbury Hall. The program will benefit Ronald McDonald House, the home away from home for families of critically ill children.
Kaelin, who teaches voice and piano lessons and owns a recording studio, graduated with honors from the University of Utah with a degree in jazz composition. He plays a dozen different instruments, has released four albums and worked with Bette Midler, Bernadette Peters and Stevie Wonder in Los Angeles.
Kaelin has presented a Christmas benefit concert with his brothers for the past 12 years. The 1993 edition will open with the Celebration Ringers and Singers Unlimited. Kaelin's six-piece band will perform instrumental arrangements of Christmas carols, with lights, dance and visual effects. All proceeds will benefit Ronald McDonald House. Concert tickets are $10 for adults, $7 for children, available at the Kingsbury Hall box office and Smith'sTix.
Although little Jesica couldn't attend the preview, she and others like her are the impetus for the efforts by Kaelin and all those who help make the Ronald McDonald House a homelike haven.
"Jesica had her first heart surgery before she was 12 hours old," said her mom, Brenda Matejcek. "We came from Boise thinking we'd be staying four days for help with Jesica's feeding tube, but then she developed spiking fevers and they discovered she has a strep infection in her blood.
"Jesica has to be on intravenous antibiotics for six weeks before her surgery in January. They're going to do a lot of reconstruction. It's a lot to do to a heart at one time but she's a fighter. She's my special angel. She's taught me so much. Jesica can't walk or talk, she does sign language. The doctors have given her a life span of seven years. She could have a seizure any time and die from stroke or a heart attack. But even when the person comes in to draw blood, she blows them a kiss," Matejcek said.
While Jesica's father stays in Boise working 11 hours a day, seven days a week, the Matejcek family found a home at Ronald McDonald House. "If we stayed in a motel it would cost us $24 a day," said Matejcek. "Ronald McDonald House charges $10 a day, plus you have a kitchen and laundry area. There's a playroom for the kids, and with all the other families staying there, it's almost like a parent group where you can ask how each other's kids are doing, how you're dealing with the stress," Matejcek said.
"We are one huge support group for each other. In the office area of the house, the staff has a sign that says, `What have you done for a family today?' And they are really there to help you with anything you might need. They've made it such a pleasant stay for me. When I've been at the hospital for a few days straight, they'll call me and say, `Brenda, how are you today?' And they don't forget about what the family needs.
"The rooms are neat and clean. It's like a hotel but better. An artist came in and helped the children draw. They fixed us Thanksgiving dinner and will have Christmas dinner for us. I never really understood love and caring before. The love here is so unconditional," Matejcek said.
During a previous stay at Ronald McDonald House while Jesica was hospitalized, Matejcek said her family was asked to draw a picture about what they thought about the house. "My son drew kids playing outside the house. But I couldn't think what to draw. But now I know. Ronald McDonald House is my family. I feel loved here. I would draw open arms coming out the sky above the house and the words, `God Provides.' "