2018 Inauguration Speech

5/17/2018

Good evening friends and colleagues! On behalf of the GMDA board, I would like to welcome you all. What a fabulous evening to celebrate our community and our profession in true style. I’m Lisa, your incoming President, and it’s a true honor to assume this position in this esteemed association. For those of you who don’t know me, I’m a periodontist and mother of three. My primary passions are connecting people and working as an interdisciplinary alliance. I love the synergy that comes from the right team.

Originally from the west coast, I have lived on both coasts, practicing general dentistry and attending a hospital residency just outside of New York, prior to my periodontal residency training. It is in New York City, literally in the dark (during the great northeast blackout), that I met a handsome and hardworking farm boy, and native Wisconsinite, now my dedicated husband and partner in life, Jared Frisbie. I absolutely adore calling Wisconsin home. It is such a special place. I am blessed to live in such a vibrant community, a wonderful place to practice Periodontics and raise a family.

The greatest man I ever knew was my father. He was not only brilliant I.Q. wise, but he could actually repair anything …….from a R62 Gleaner combine having mechanical issue to fixating a mandibular fracture at 2 a.m. He was a gentleman farmer first and a dentist second. He was musically a near savant, an expert skier, and probably the most-engaged dad that anyone ever had. He moved at a manic pace all the time and with a twinkle in his sky blue eyes. He also had an impeccable skill of intentionally embarrassing his three daughters by wearing multi-colored knee-high socks with khaki shorts in the winter – or- interrogating young men before a date at our house.

His passion and compassion for mankind was unmatched. If someone told him they liked his hat, he insisted they take it. I remember him picking up a bloodied homeless man along the side of the road who had been pushed off a train and, whose forehead had been degloved. He rushed him the 40 minute drive to the Emergency room with no mind to his tan colored car interior. We grew up on a farm, in the wide open planes of Eastern Washington, and when our neighbor farmer committed suicide at the beginning of the harvest season, he arranged the community to co-op. In came 12 combines and 30 trucks and we harvested that farmer’s wheat fields in two days, fields that normally would have taken three weeks to harvest. He believed in giving 100% selflessly. You don’t wait for people to ask for help, you identify what’s needed and you “just show up.”

The year I applied to dental school and was expected to interview, our world came crashing down. After a deemed uncomplicated cancer surgery, a week of recovery, and the day he was to be released to go home, we go that dreaded call….

And so, my life is essentially divided into two distinct phases, the life before my dad and hero died and the impervious fog that occurred after…..

It was like the worst nightmare one could imagine, and yet, it was now reality. During my first year in dental school, I felt the void. My father would have and should have been my primary life and dental mentor, but this was not to be. I felt the resistance of the paralyzing waves of grief. In school, two exceptional periodontists, almost providentially came alongside me. I became infected with passion for dentistry, and surgery in particular. I found joy that I did not know could be again, a joy in caring for people comprehensively, body, mind, soul. These mentors did not ask “what can I do to help.” I did not choose them, they “just showed up”, guided and mentored me and I will forever be grateful for their profound impact on my life and future. My loss instilled within me a depth of compassion for people that I could not have known otherwise. It has caused me to give pause in the day when speaking to hurting patients, friends or colleagues who need to be heard. I hope to continue the legacy that inspired me, to mentor and lead and connect others in dynamic ways through organized dentistry.

Enough about my story, this is about our story, our GMDA story:

We’ve seen tragedy and loss hit our own GMDA community. Terminal illness, death, unexpected tragedies, abuse, poverty, addiction, financial ruin and the list goes on and on- we can all identify with at least one of these. Over the past year, we’ve banded together as a community to support one another through many circumstances. Tragedy strikes every person in different ways, and let’s be honest we are all terminal, but while we are here, let’s commit as a community “to just show up” for each other in a real way.

What is community and our association if not to support each other? We live in a world where social media shows smiling, beaming airbrushed faces perfected after taking 80 photos and selecting the best one. We glorify being busy to the point that we have no time to breathe and be. We live in an artificial reality. The problem of pain permeates nearly every life, and yet, we somehow ignore it’s presence. Why don’t we talk about this more, and why do we only speak about tragedy, cancer, terminal illness, mental illness, abuse and death in whispers? Life is too short to live on a hamster wheel and not in the present. Life is too brief to hold grudge or to not forgive. Life is too fleeting to not “show up” and help that colleague in need; to mentor that student; to come alongside that family who is suffering. Truly, by living with grace, forgiveness and a focus on being present for one another, our lives will be richer, fuller and more purpose driven.

Dentistry is such an amazing profession. We have the capability of making a tremendous impact with the modern and interdisciplinary approach available today. I feel so passionate about the future of our profession. But we can’t do it alone. We need advocacy and community. And that’s why we are here. The GMDA, is here to connect dentists to success.

This has truly been an outstanding and very important year for the GMDA! The board this past year has been led in full force by outgoing President Dr. Angela Lueck, who followed the legacy of Dr. Cheska Avery-Stafford. (Those are high stilletos to fill, ladies!) We have been working hard to represent you all and implement new strategies of engagement, activism and fun! When I initially joined the GMDA and the board, I was told that it was a good ole boys club- nothing could be farther from the truth. I have found the GMDA to be a progressive, welcoming, supportive community. The mentorship that the board provides for future generations of dentists is profound.

This year we have focused on member engagement, establishing a consistent annual events calendar, achieving relevancy in our changing world, adding value to our members and balancing the budget, amongst many other important things. During this next year, I look forward to continuing what my compatriots have started with vigor. I will focus on member engagement, with a heavy emphasis on mentoring new GMDA members and encouraging active participation.

In order to make our association better we will need you amazingly talented dentists to step up and volunteer. We need to instill leadership skills in the next generation, so you may carry the torch that has been lit. There are so many opportunities. I also believe strongly that our association should be one of compassion and of proactively assisting and rallying around dentists when they are in need. For as Henri Nouwen said: “Did I offer peace today? Did I bring a smile to someone's face? Did I say words of healing? Did I let go of my anger and resentment? Did I forgive? Did I love? These are the real questions. I must trust that the little bit of love that I sow now will bear many fruits.”