Dear friends,

Everything changed on September 1st. I got the call that my mother, who had been living with Alzheimer's, had suffered a cardiac event and was declining fast. I flew to Phoenix. I got to sit with her, pray with her, and hold her hand. On September 6th, I was with her as she took her last breath.

That same day, I flew back to Kansas City to help my daughter move into UCLA. Grief and gratitude arrived in the same breath, and I learned I didn't have to choose between them. I could mourn my mother and celebrate my daughter's next chapter at once.

Mom raised my sisters and me as a single parent, a teacher who worked evenings and on the weekends, designing and sewing dance costumes and other items.  I still don't know where she found the extra hours in the day to make sure we felt supported, had real opportunities, and grew into people who cared about others. In her last days, I told her the truth--her journey had been beautiful, and it was time to rest.

Since then, messages have poured in from her former students, each one telling us how much she shaped their lives. Mom was a teacher. She showed me what a mentor looked like before I ever knew the word. Because of her, I knew how to show up for my own daughter the way she had shown up for my sisters, for me, and for her students.

Mom's legacy isn't a memory. It's still moving in every student she taught, everyone she came across, and everyone she loved.

When I returned to work, I walked into my office at UMKC and found my desk covered in cards from colleagues I'd known for less than two months. Your calls, messages, and texts of support and prayer have truly lifted me and my sisters up. It has reminded us that we don't carry each other through seasons like this out of obligation. We carry each other because it's how love works.

UMKC held its first of two interview days for prospective dental students this month, and the energy in the building was impossible to miss. Applicants arrived dressed for their future, ready to show admissions committees why they belonged at UMKC School of Dentistry. I was scheduled to be at UCLA and couldn't sign up to interview this round, but I made it back just in time to witness the day and meet several candidates in the hallway.

One candidate holds a special place in my heart. Aaliyah H., one of my MIND mentees. She stayed with me the night before; she had done the work to prepare, and I knew she would walk in ready. I told her what my husband always tells me before I speak somewhere new--just have fun and be yourself! She came back gleaming with pride, said it was fun, and I have every confidence she'll end up exactly where she's supposed to be.

Mentor and Mentee of the Year will be honored at the November Summit at ATSU, Arizona School of Dentistry and Oral Health, in Phoenix on November 13.

Submissions through MentorCity closed last night; however, I will continue to take your nominations through 8 pm CST tonight.  So reply back to this newsletter ASAP!

A special thank you to Delta Dental of Arizona for sponsoring the MIND Mentor/Mentee Nomination.

In memory of my mother, MIND has opened a giving page:

In Memory of Stephanie Mercomes: A Legacy of Mentorship.

Mom was a teacher her entire career, and long after her students left her classroom, they kept coming back to tell her what she meant to them.

She believed in people other people had given up on.

She was there at my very first MIND Summit, and every one after, for as long as she was able.

That's not a coincidence. It's the whole reason this organization exists, and it's why I want her legacy tied to it going forward.

If you'd like to give in her honor  Click Here To Donate

Learn More About MIND

This month, I am especially grateful for my mother's quiet strength. She never let the weight of raising three daughters alone show on her face. She just kept going, working, showing up, making sure we never felt what she carried. I didn't fully understand the size of that sacrifice until I became a mother myself.

I will be eternally grateful for a mother who taught me that strength isn't about doing it all alone. It's about doing it with love, no matter the cost.

My sisters and I will forever carry her legacy forward.

Every family has someone who becomes more than a friend.

Mine had a woman who shows up for every performance, every graduation, every wedding, and then showed up hardest when it mattered most.

Her name is Dr. Nevada Lee, known in my family as Aunt Nevada.

When her best friend, my mother, was diagnosed with cancer, then later with Alzheimer's, Aunt Nevada flew to Phoenix again and again. She made memory books, photos labeled with names and faces, to help my mom hold onto who her family was. And when my mom's life was ending, Aunt Nevada sat at her bedside, brought humor into a heavy room, and advocated for her comfort until her very last breath. 

She was my mother's best friend since the eighth grade, a fellow single parent who built a life alongside her, and a geriatric physician whose expertise became a gift to our whole family in our hardest season.

My mother didn't have sisters of her own. Aunt Nevada was as close to one as she ever had.

Aunt Nevada is still here for us, the way she always has been. We will always cherish her for a love that never stopped and never will.

As this new season continues, I'm looking forward to a few opportunities to keep building MIND's reach and serve our profession.

Upcoming MIND Summit: Oregon Health & Science University, Portland, OR on October 30, 2026. This will be our inaugural summit at OHSU, and we're bringing mentors to make it happen.

If mentoring the next generation of dentists is something you feel called to, I'd love for you to join us, whether at OHSU or in a future MIND summit near you.

Also on the horizon, more details to follow:

• MIND Summit at ATSU, Arizona School of Dentistry and Oral Health, Phoenix, November 13
• I will be speaking at the ADEA Leadership Alumni event in Chicago, March 13

As mentioned earlier, MIND has opened a giving page in honor of my mother, a lifelong teacher and mentor: In Memory of Stephanie Mercomes: A Legacy of Mentorship.

We invite you to give in her honor and help MIND reach the next student who doesn't yet believe they belong in this profession.

If you're a dentist or dental professional, consider becoming a mentor through MIND's MentorCity. And if you're a student looking for guidance, consider signing up as a mentee.
It takes just a few minutes, and it could be the start of a relationship that changes someone's path.

Thank you for holding space for me and my family this month.

My mother's legacy is still writing itself, in her students, in her grandchildren, in Aunt Nevada's love, and in this work.

If you'd like to know more about the woman who raised me, you can read her full obituary here.

 With Gratitude,

Laila B. Hishaw, DDS, FACD, FICD, FPFA, FAAPD

Chair, Department of Pediatric Dentistry |UMKC School of Dentistry

Founder & President, Mentorships in Dentistry, Inc.