What do massage in Kalispell, and my mom Alice have to do with each other? With the passing of my lovely mom on Friday, Sept. 26th, 2025, who was in local assisted living with advanced dementia, I feel the need to tell our story of how she was instrumental in my beginning a career as a massage therapist in Kalispell.
Long before I ever even remotely considered entering this field, my mom started getting massage therapy at the student clinics in Pocatello, Idaho, where she lived until 1994, and where I grew up. There was a massage school there, and when she and my dad moved to Kalispell, she began attending the student clinics here. My mom literally became a massage junkie! I don’t think she ever received any professional sessions from a licensed massage therapist anywhere in the Flathead Valley, she just went to the student clinics, mainly for stress relief, but also for a knee condition. Fast forward to me moving to Montana in 1996. While waterskiing on Foys Lake, I had a bad crash, and she suggested I find a massage therapist in Kalispell to help me recover. I took her advice, booked a session, and though I don’t remember much about it, except the LMT was deaf, and it was at a salon here that was then called Soucie Soucie, it did plant the seed that eventually sprouted into me now being in business for 16 years, all in the same Kalispell location!
Both my mom and dad developed dementia. That illness truly held me and my immediate family hostage for many years. Caring for them, and eventually handling all their affairs became a 2nd and 3rd job for me. (Like the pandemic, and me needing a hip replacement weren’t enough.) I moved them into assisted living in July of 2022, my dad died in KRMC of “covid” Sept. 29th of 2022, and the trust company who took over their home hired me to manage the place and property for these last few years, waiting to sell it until after her passing, for tax purposes.
With most of their “stuff” still in the home, and no big changes to the property, I’ve been able to have a “long goodbye” to them. When I would go out to mow the lawns, check on the home, etc., and everything was basically as it was when they left, it’s allowed me time to process what’s happened to them, and also honor their legacy. My dad taught hunters ed for many years, they were involved with Rocky Mountain Elk Foundation, active in their churches, and contributed money to worthy causes, like Stillwater Christian School. I’m continuing to work with some of those entities, donating all of my parents mounted elk and fish exhibits.
Back to massage therapy, I worked on my mom at my office numerous times, but as her condition got worse I felt like a female LMT would serve her better, so I referred her to another therapist in my building. Alice’s dementia, and her refusal to believe it was as bad as family told her it was, created some odd moments at my office. She would show up unannounced, and just walk into my office without knocking, totally not even seeing the “in session” notice on the door. Eventually I had to take away my parents dog, their vehicles, among many other major decisions I reluctantly had to make in their best interests.
But I can’t leave this post that way, not without offering some hope! Obviously having dementia on both sides of the family is a great concern for my own health, so I’ve done lots of learning and research these last 7 years, and have come to feel “they’re” right about now referring to Alzheimers as “diabetes type 3”. I see that being true from my own experience with them, but I also feel the water where they lived locally was probably a factor (lots of farmland all around their home, with years and years of pesticides being put on crops), teflon cooking pans were likely a factor, and aluminum, even in deodorant, may have contributed. We’ve had 2 USA presidents now who’ve had it (I didn’t know at the time that Reagan had it), it wasn’t a huge problem 60 years ago, what’s changed? (nobody was allergic to the peanuts on the plane 60 years ago…..)
After reading Dr. Heather Sandison’s book “Reversing Alzheimer’s”, and my own experiences, I’ve come to feel that it can be REVERSED if caught in the middle stages.
Now THAT gives us a reason for hope!!
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I am really, really good at my job, I still like what I do after all these years, and hope if you’re already a client you’ll continue to hang out with me for massage therapy, and if you’ve never been to my office, come check it out. You’ll be glad ya did!
You can find videos of me and my mom, my office, and adventures, click HERE for one of my Youtube channels.
My new clients must book their first session online, click HERE for my pricing page and booking schedule.