Page created by: Gayaneh Petrossian

Today, the first day of Spring, would have been Aramazd's 63rd birthday. Spring brings with it a feeling of renewed energy and emerging life, so we found it fitting to launch Aramazd's site on this day, as he himself was so full of energy and life. Aramazd was diagnosed with early onset Parkinson's disease more than 20 years ago and he passed away from the disease on August 8th, 2019. His children wanted to make a place for people who loved Aramazd to share thoughts and memories of him, and for new friends to learn his story and about how Parkinson's affects peoples' lives.

Parkinson's, especially in the early onset form, is a very complex and difficult disease to understand. There are many different trials and experimental research paths being undertaken in pursuit of a cure, and they can lead to often disappointing results. For example, in the first week of February, biotech firms Biogen and Sanofi Genzyme separately announced that they will stop developing two Parkinson’s drugs after unsuccessful clinical trial results. It is important to maintain research funding in order to leave no stone unturned when it comes to research pathways. For this reason, we wanted to create another space for people to support The Michael J. Fox Foundation's mission to end Parkinson's.

While there can often be dead-ends in Parkinson's research, we have also made tremendous strides in understanding the disease, and people suffering from Parkinson's have a lot of reasons to be hopeful that new ways to improve quality of life and that research breakthroughs could lead to eradication of Parkinson's soon.

Michael J. Fox has written that he is both a realist and an optimist, and Aramazd's outlook on life was the same. In the face of this debilitating disease, Parkinson's patients are often filled with intense hope for the future, and because of that they inspire us all with their optimism. We are thankful for the hope that they give us, and we must remember that "with gratitude, optimism becomes sustainable".

Love,
Ruzan, Gayaneh, and Miro