Music is medicine for the soul.
Regardless of what style is preferred, nobody can deny the emotions that can be incited by an amazing song.
Ash Ruiz, a former member of the Puerto Rican boy band Menudo, has been singing for as long as he can remember. He recalls spending hours with his Grandma Jean, practicing vocals and singing their favorite tunes together.
Ash tells PEOPLE, “I have the most precious memories of my Grandma Jean doing everything with a song. It didn’t matter if she was doing laundry or making lasagne, she was always singing and her voice was rich, velvety, and beautiful.”
When Ash was 8 years old, his Grandma Jean taught him the song “Unforgettable” by Nat King Cole. The 1950s hit quickly became the young boy’s favorite, and every year on his grandmother’s birthday, he would serenade her with the lyrics.
As Ash’s singing career progressed, he was often traveling, ultimately seeing his grandmother less and less— still, however, he would always find the time to sing her “Unforgettable” on her birthday, regardless of whether he had to use the telephone or a video chat to do it.
August 2nd, 2017, marked Grandma Jean’s 98th birthday. As luck would have it, Ash just happened to be in Florida around the time, popping in for a visit on July 27th, and waking her up with a rendition of “Come Back to Sorrento.”
In a video which Ash has since uploaded to Facebook, we hear Grandma Jean ask for one more song. Ash then asks the ailing woman if she would like to sing “Unforgettable.”
“Unforgettable, that’s what you are,” he sings. “Unforgettable though near or far, like a song of love that clings to me.”
Grandma Jean cannot take her eyes of her grandson, and the emotion in the room is palpable throughout the video.
“Unforgettable in every way, and forever more, that’s how you’ll stay. That’s why, darling, it’s incredible…”
By about the one-minute mark, Grandma Jean is moved to tears by her grandson’s rendition, grabbing a tissue to wipe her eyes.
The moment was an emotional one for Ash, who tells PEOPLE:
“I could feel right away that there was a giant lump in my throat and my heart. That just broke my heart wide open. I told myself that I would hold it together and finish the whole song. My voice broke on the last note and the tears started coming out of my eyes.”
Since being uploaded, Ash’s performance has been viewed on Facebook over 178,000 times.
Ash would like to take this opportunity to remind everyone how important it is to spend time with relatives in their golden years, telling PEOPLE:
“It’s such a beautiful thing, to just put yourself in their shoes, to put yourself in their skin, even if it is scary. Have a little bit of courage to go there, because their beauty will be revealed.”
Please SHARE this with your friends and family.
