Anniversaries

For some reason unbeknownst to me, this day, March second, has been a pivotal day in my life on many fronts. I’ve written about it in previous blog posts, and here we are again. Today marks my fifth anniversary at Microsoft, which is something I’m proud of because it’s tough to stick it out at any big tech company on the same team for that long. Additionally, it was 21 years ago today that I started working at El Gaucho, which was my previous career before getting into software engineering. Then above all else, it was 25 years ago today that my dad passed away. I don’t say that out of sadness, but out of love and respect. While I still think of him every day, today is a day to think a little more and pay that much more respect to someone who continues to be an important figure in my life. Years ago this was a sad day for me, but not anymore; now it’s a special day that always causes me to take pause and reflect.

As far as the work stuff goes, I always think of my time at El Gaucho in the same way you hear people talk about their college glory days. In my case it was about as much time as one would spend getting their doctorate, but I always loved it. I’m still close friends with many people I met during that era, and it makes me happy that Jessica is still there. Although we would always be part of the family, I’m glad to continue to be as close to it as we are. I started there as an 18 year old kid with no idea what I was doing, and ended up building a career for myself, while learning a lot of important life lessons along the way. Most importantly, I met my wife during that time and it was a factor in us transitioning to where we are now.

Regarding Microsoft, I continue to be very proud to work there, and can’t believe how much I’ve learned since I started. The work I do today is a far cry from the work I did five years ago, but it continues to be challenging and rewarding. The company has grown significantly during this time, mostly because of Azure, and having an inside look at all of that has been an amazing experience. The tech industry is very competitive and I regularly receive offers to interview with other companies, but I’m thankful for my role at Microsoft and continue to plan on being there for the long-term.

This morning I received an email from Microsoft congratulating me on five years and telling me I could pick a prize. The options were a five-year crystal tower with my name engraved on it, a small cash prize, or I could donate the cash prize to a charity of my choice. I decided to go with the crystal because you see them around on people’s desks looking like a badge of honor. You’re eligible for a new one every five years so it’s cool to be starting my collection now.

While these work anniversaries are great, it’s the one about my dad that I have the hardest time believing. It definitely puts 25 years into perspective because it might as well be a lifetime considering how long ago the whole thing feels. I guess in some ways it was a lifetime. Obviously I wish he could have been around to meet my wife and kids, but I know nothing would make him happier or more appreciative than knowing that he is still very much a part of our lives. The kids definitely know who Grandpa Elmer is because we talk about him regularly. I frequently find myself telling them the same things he used to tell me, and always make sure to attribute him when doing so. Being an older dad, he had a lot of wisdom that he shared with me, and it’s important to me that I regurgitate all that stuff to my own kids.

Again, I don’t want to make this a sad thing because it’s really not. No one lives forever, but it’s the sign of a great person and a great life lived when even all these years later people still regularly talk and think about you. It’s not just me either; my cousin Kenny always tells me he still thinks of ‘Uncle Elmer’ every single day. If you’ve seen the Disney movie ‘Coco’, then you’re probably familiar with ‘Dia de los muertos’ (Day of the dead), and the whole concept of keeping a person’s spirit alive after they’re gone. It was that concept, and the corresponding Mexican artwork, that I settled on when deciding to get my tattoo sleeve in San Diego for my 30th birthday. It was partially about remembering those who are no longer with us, but also a reminder not to take the ones we haven’t lost for granted.

So today, as we mark a quarter century since his passing, I just want to pay respect to a man I continue to idolize. His words and lessons stick with me, and his spirit is very much a part of our family. The children today who bear his last name love him and speak of him regularly. They’ve visited his grave, but more importantly, they’re learning the same life lessons from me that I got from him. Nothing would make him happier.

To end things on a more upbeat note, I want to talk about our upcoming wedding anniversary. On April 3rd Jessica and I will be celebrating 10 years of marriage, and we decided about a year ago that the way we’d like to carry out that celebration was by taking the kids across country to Walt Disney World in Orlando, Florida! With the kids all between the ages of 5 and 8, we felt like the timing was perfect, so we recently finally broke the news to them. We had considered keeping it a surprise all the way up until the day we were leaving, but ultimately decided to give them about 6 weeks notice. That way we could watch videos of the parks on YouTube and make some plans together as a family.

I have to give Jessica a ton of credit for all the work she has put into planning this vacation for us. It’s practically a part-time job trying to get everything scheduled, but at this point we’re good to go. We decided to go all out because chances are we won’t be going back there again as a family. I’m sure we’ll do Disneyland at some point, but Disney World will probably be a one-time thing. Based on that, we’re staying at one of the Disney hotels, and we got a ‘Cars’ themed suite to stay in. We got the photo package, the meal plan, and plenty of other add-ons. We’ve never done a family vacation like this before and it will be something none of us will ever forget.

We’ll be arriving in Florida on Sunday, April 5th, then doing a park per day starting on Monday. The first day will be Animal Kingdom, the second day is Hollywood Studios, the third day is Magic Kingdom, and the fourth day is Epcot Center, then we’ll be flying home on Friday. We’ll be arriving early each day and having a full morning at the park, then most likely coming back to the hotel in the afternoon for a little rest before heading back to the park for the evening festivities. I’m sure it will be exhausting and crowded, but I have no doubt we’re going to have a great time. I put a video of the kids reacting to the news about our trip on YouTube, which you can see below.

We’re only about a month away now so it will be here before we know it. We’ve still got one final trip to Canada coming up later this month for Ava’s final tournament of the season, and we’re excited to have Grandpa Rick joining us. I may try to write a quick post about that when we get home, but either way you can expect a long post in April after we return from Florida. Bon voyage!