There is a reason certain songs can bring us to tears within seconds. A reason a melody can transport us back to a childhood kitchen, a living room filled with laughter, or a moment we didn’t know would become a memory. For me, home has always sounded like music.
This Mother’s Day, I find myself reflecting not only on what home means, but who helped create that feeling for me—my entire family, and especially my mother, who loved playing music in the house. Merie Productions, the company I now pour my heart into, is named after a nickname she gave me as a little girl, “Merie.” A name I connect with my huge childhood dreams. After my mother passed in 2022 following a long illness, something in me shifted—profoundly and permanently. I made a promise to myself: I would never again spend time doing anything that didn’t light me up.
Long before Broadway stages or concert halls, there was the living room. My family would dance endlessly, music playing through the house like a heartbeat. We created an environment where music and the performing arts were ever-present. It was woven into our everyday life—celebrated, encouraged, and shared. I didn’t know this feeling was part of my “training.” We were all simply living. Expressing. Connecting. That environment shaped everything.
As I grew older, that sense of home expanded. Every time I walked into a theatre—whether as a young girl in the audience or later as a performer—I felt it again. That same warmth. That same belonging. The performing arts creates a shared experience that is increasingly rare in our fast-paced world. In a theatre, we sit together, feel together, and remember what it means to be human. It is, in many ways, the ultimate extension of home.
Here in the Flathead Valley, we are so fortunate to have organizations that help foster that sense of connection for families. Whether it’s experiencing a wonderful show at Whitefish Theatre Company, taking classes or attending performances at North Valley Music School, or engaging with community-driven programs like Amazing Place Music and Home School Theatre Club, the arts are alive and thriving here. Even a casual night out listening to live music at Thirty Eight or The Lodge at Whitefish Lake can become a meaningful shared family experience. These spaces remind us that connection doesn’t have to be complicated—it just has to be shared.
Mother’s Day is not only about celebration—it’s about legacy. What are we passing down to our children? What will they remember when they think of home? Will they remember music playing in the background, dancing in the kitchen, or the magic of seeing a live performance for the first time? These are not small things. These are the moments that shape identity, confidence, and joy.
My mother may no longer be here physically, but her influence—and the environment my entire family created—lives on in every show I produce, every artist I collaborate with, and every community moment we create. They taught me something essential: joy is not optional, it is necessary.
Naming my company Merie Productions was never just a business decision—it was a declaration. It reminds me of the little girl who dreamt big, and still does. Because at the end of the day, home is not a place—it’s a feeling. And for me, that feeling will always sound like music.
Happy Mother’s Day to all the incredible women and families who create homes filled with love, creativity, resilience, and yes… a little bit of song and dance.
