The main lobby of the Medical Center of Aurora is full of the whirr of plastic wheels against cement floors that blends with the crackling of voices through a loudspeaker against the noise from hurried feet running from room to room.
Most days, there’s one sound that sticks out from the chaos of a hospital lobby. The sound of an old Wurlitzer piano.
“I hear a song and begin to work on it,” said Aldah Medsker. “Sometimes it works, and sometimes it doesn’t, but I find it a challenge.”
The 81-year-old has been playing the piano since she was 5. Now she volunteers her time every other Wednesday to sit down and tickle the ivory in the main lobby of the hospital.
Her children urged her to share her musical gifts with people at the medical center after Aldah’s husband passed away four years ago.
“I didn’t think I could do it, but I did it,” Aldah said through a smile. “Ever since, it’s been building and it’s my life now.”
Aldah splits her time between four different venues: The Medial Center of Aurora, Swedish Medical Center, Porter Adventist, and Masters Touch Assisted Living. She said volunteering gives her a sense of purpose.
“A purpose to help where I could have felt the need of this when I was with my husband in the hospital,” she says. “I think it would have been wonderful to have had somebody playing that piano.”
The Medical Center of Aurora is open to working with anyone willing to volunteer. If you have a skill you wish to lend the hospital, reach out to Susan Davis, the Director of Community Affairs and Development, at 303-695-2838.
