ValGean Nelson, right, plays the keyboard that Cheryl Huf, a social worker with Life Butler County who works with Nelson, helped secure. Huf said Nelson is very deserving of the instrument.

JEFFERSON TWP — ValGean Nelson has been tickling the ivories for 80 years and, thanks to Twilight Wish, her hobby can continue indefinitely.

The well-used piano in Nelson's small living room is broken, meaning she was unable to play the hymns and worship music she holds dear.

Enter Jean Bowen, the director of Butler Twilight Wish, which “honors and acknowledges seniors for all they have given to others by bringing comfort and joy into their lives through individual wish-granting celebrations,” according to the organization's website.

Bowen and five others from the local Twilight Wish group recently delivered and set up an electric keyboard and stand for an appreciative Nelson.

Being able to play the keyboard each day will lift her spirits, Nelson said.

“It makes you think you're worth something,” she said. “I got to the point where I was good for nothing because I can't do this and I can't do that.”

Money to fulfill the wishes comes from fundraisers and donations.

“If we don't have the funds to (fulfill a wish), we go find them,” Bowen said.

More information on Twilight Wish, as well as the opportunity to donate or nominate a senior, is available at

www.twilightwish.org or by calling Bowen at 724-290-3288.

Read more about Nelson and Twilight Wish in the Butler Eagle.