Today, our family is honoring our father by supporting the MPN Research Foundation.
Will you join us?
This upcoming Sunday is Father’s Day, and every year our family reminisces about the wonderful memories and lessons we have from our father, Harvey Gould. We are fortunate to have so many of his thoughts preserved in the songs he wrote for us and in his blog “The Long and Winding Road.” Just as he offered his own family comfort and advice, he shared his experiences dealing with his disease with the MPN community. When he was diagnosed with Myelofibrosis, he described the choice he faced:
“I could choose Door Number One and hide in a cave with a neon sign at the entrance flashing ‘pity me’ and retreat deeper and deeper into the darkness, or I could choose Door Number Two and allow my senses, never so focused as by the verdict of a terminal disease, to shout that I now had a reason like never before to be thankful for every day that I could see, smell, hear, taste and touch. I chose Door Number Two.”
Dad often spoke about the difficultly that came with trying to live in two worlds at once, the “medical one” and the “home one.” Finding balance between the two can be difficult for MPN patients and their families, and sometimes a day meant for love and celebration can become an emotional burden. Dad would encourage us all to put those things aside and to treat these moments as a gift – to be thankful for each day.
It’s been a few years since we got to celebrate Father’s Day with our dad, and since then we have found comfort in connecting with the broader MPN community. We are particularly grateful to the MPN Research Foundation. They work every day on behalf of families like ours to push research forward so that hopefully, one day, there will be better treatment options or a cure for patients diagnosed with an MPN.
To honor our dad’s memory and the work he did for the MPN community, we have initiated The Harvey Gould Fund to raise funds for the MPN Research Foundation’s Progression Marker Project, an important new initiative aimed at discovering the genetic markers that lead up to progression from ET/PV to MF. This will allow researchers to identify additional targets for development of therapies as well as better explain the mechanism by which this disease transforms, in the hope of stopping it.
Some song lyrics our father wrote come to mind in this moment – “Tomorrow’s only good if yesterday you stood your ground and fought for what you want today.” Dad continues to inspire us, and his memory has inspired us into action on behalf of the MPN Research Foundation because we want a cure, and that won’t come unless we stand up and support research.
Today, our family is honoring our father by supporting the MPN Research Foundation with a gift. Will you join us?
Sincerely,
Jennifer Gould Golbus, Lisa Gould Bretones, & Ashley Gould