Five Years of Service

I have been a Blizzard fan about as long as I can remember, I’m talking about Warcraft, Starcraft, Diablo, Overwatch, Blackthorne, The Lost Vikings and Rock and Roll Racing! In 2010 I received an offer letter from Blizzard Entertainment.  I was elated, on Cloud 9 and I couldn’t wait to share the news with Diana. However, that opportunity fell through due to the difficulty of finding a match of her medical residency program in California. So I made the sacrifice and we stayed in New York for her to finish.

Years passed, two kids later, and another opportunity struck to for me to join the ranks of Blizzard! Diana had finished all of her training and we came together to California with her as a board certified OB-GYN. Everything was perfect and during my orientation of Blizzard they shared their stories of honoring their employees with a sword for 5 years of service and others for longer tenures. I pictured myself running around the campus halls wearing all the gear for every single meeting.

Life has an unusual way of putting choices in front of you no matter when and where you are though. As we moved to California, while we could live relatively comfortably, we found ourselves unable to afford a home. Out of the blue, Google had reached out and inquired on my availability . I spoke with Diana about it, told her that I was happy at Blizzard but would entertain Google in their interview process for a few reasons. One, I have immense respect for the company, culture and products. Two, I wanted to prove to myself that I was capable of meeting Google’s rigorous engineering standards. Finally, I admit, I was curious to see what the offer was.

The day came when Google called me with the amazing news that I had been accepted to join their ranks. The offer came in strong enough to resolve the inability to purchase a house plus numerous benefits that would protect my children should anything happen to me and also an amazing paternal leave when our daughter comes to this world. This did mean that I’d once again sacrifice the opportunity to be part of the Blizzard team. There would be no sword, shield, ring, crown or hammer in my future.

However, Diana cleverly worked with the kids and honored me on Father’s day with a Doomhammer for 5 years of service for always putting our children first. There must have been some pollen in the air because my eyes became a bit watery. To my wife and wonderful children, thanks for giving me the best possible Father’s day gift ever.