Family & Friends Serenade Quarantined 97-Year-Old Woman With Irish Folk Songs

On St. Patrick’s Day, friends and family of Margaret Presley–who is quarantined in an assisted living home in Spokane, Washington due to the coronavirus outbreak–celebrated the holiday with her in a creative way: by standing outside her window and singing Irish folk songs.

The 97-year-old, whose parents were first-generation Irish immigrants, had just moved into the home in the last month due to a house fire. “After the fire, we were all saying we’d come to visit every day,” grandson Daniel Conger said. “And then this happens.”

Added son Greg Presley: “This is a difficult transition for her. Then to not be able to see her family face-to-face has been an additional challenge.” The impromptu concert, which featured cheery green balloons and two local opera singers, Heather and Derrick Parker, made Margaret Presley tear up with gratitude. “Life is a little bleak at the moment,” Greg Presley said. “People need inspiration–and now desperately.”