ROUND ROCK, Texas — High school freshman Emma Ray has been singing outside a nursing home during the COVID-19 outbreak but is no longer able to do so.
"Live music is something I couldn't live without, music in general, so I think it brings joy to me it also brings joy to them," said Emma Ray.
Ray says visiting the Park Valley Inn in Round Rock, Texas, has been her routine for a while now.
"I've been singing at the senior center since I was in seventh grade, so that's about two years," said Ray. "They always ask how I'm doing, and knowing that they support me as much as I want to support them, it's a really good experience."
"I just feel that whatever gifts we do have, no matter how limited they are, it's just important to give it," said Emma's mom, Denise Ray.
When the building was shut down due to COVID-19, the two of them needed to find a way for their routine to continue.
"We figured out a way with connecting the cord outside, and then cracking the windows open and I sang. I just had to turn the volume up really really loud so they could hear me and I sang to them," said Emma Ray.
"I think it was important to shed a light on all the good that people are doing despite of this," said Denise Ray.
"Singing at the nursing home is a relaxing feeling. I can be my self. I can go there and provide light for people as they provide light for me," said Emma. "I know they saw me, they waved to me through the windows."
Now the rules have changed again, and Emma's not even allowed to sing in the courtyard. She's also not sure when she'll get to sing to them again.
But she knows as soon as she can she'll find her routine again.
"It made me really happy to see them really happy," Emma added.
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