Madison Kozak on the Angel She Had Sitting in the Pews at Her Recent Grand Ole Opry Performance

Melanie Mulrain Madison Kozak

Madison Kozak had waited a lifetime for this very moment.

The country music songstress with the sweet-as-a-bird voice had snagged a spot on the coveted Boots and Hearts Festival last month, opening for the legendary Shania Twain. But while Kozak stepped on stage with a smile, her grandfather was in hospice fighting for his life.

But mere hours after that show was over, Kozak found herself back at the side of her beloved Opa, playing music for him during his final days while he passed in and out of consciousness.

"But then I played 'You Are My Sunshine' and he perked right up and started singing," Kozak, 25, recalls tearfully to PEOPLE. "It's so wild how, at that stage of life, music continues to translate."

Melanie Mulrain Madison Kozak

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Kozak's grandfather Tom Haverkort ultimately died on Aug. 13 at the age of 94, on the very same day she performed alongside artists such as Luke Bryan and Kelsea Ballerini at Lasso Montreal.

"It killed me not to be there for him all of the time," Kozak says quietly. "But if I know one thing about him, he would have wanted me out there working hard, chasing my dreams." She pauses. "I will carry those memories forever ... just holding his hand and getting to thank him personally for all he brought to my life before he passed."

Kozak's grandfather was raised in a small town in Holland. A passionate baker by trade, he immigrated to Canada when he was 21 years old, where he met Kozak's grandmother, and they began building their family.

"My Nana and Opa lived down the road from me when I was a kid," remembers Kozak. "My Opa would pick me up from dance [class] and bring me back to their house. He would teach me blackjack and we would watch Judge Judy and he would make me meatloaf or meat pie." She laughs. "And then we would get ice cream! We just wouldn't tell my Nana."

Courtesy of Madison Kozak Madison Kozak and Her Family

And as Kozak embarked on her country music career, Opa always found his way to the front row.

"Every time I had a hometown show, he would be there cheering me on," says Kozak, who moved to Nashville when she was 14 years old. "He was a big music lover. It didn't matter if it was country music or rock and roll or ABBA. He loved ABBA!"

Indeed, it was music that Kozak and her grandfather truly bonded over.

"Whenever I would make trips back home to Ontario, I'd bring my guitar into the nursing home and play music for him and everyone else that would be there listening," Kozak remembers. "He was so proud. I'm so grateful that I got to bring music to him at the nursing home in his last few days too."

Another similarity was the fact that both Kozak and her Opa came from large families, a trait that Kozak says she has been thinking about as of late, especially with the release of her new single "Loud House."

Courtesy of Madison Kozak Madison Kozak and Grandparents

"My Opa was one of 12 children, and I am one of eight," notes Kozak, who wrote "Loud House" alongside fellow songwriters Aaron Eshuis and Emily Falvey. "So we both knew what it was like growing up in a loud house in a somewhat chaotic, beautiful, bittersweet, crazy, constantly moving environment."

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She draws in a deep breath.

"I think, sometimes, I was in such a rush to get out and chase the dream," says. Kozak, who will release another single, "What Does Sorry Mean," on Friday.

Today, Kozak says she is trying to live in the moment more than ever before. And it was this mantra she continued to repeat to herself as she recently stepped on the stage of the Grand Ole Opry, just a couple of weeks after her grandfather's death.

"When I made my Opry debut three years ago, my Opa wasn't well enough to make the trip," remembers Kozak. "So, this time, I wanted him to be there. I even told them that I wanted him to have the best seat in the house."

And surely, he did.