The year the world slowed down
2021 was a difficult year for everyone. COVID disrupted families, routines, and the sense that the future was predictable. For me, it was more than disruption -- it was a collapse of the life I knew.
I'm Robert Evans. For decades I built software at Microsoft -- writing code, leading engineering teams, and shipping systems that had to run reliably at global scale. I worked across products and platforms including Xbox, mobile, and Windows technologies, and later served as the global technical lead for the Windows Developer AppConsult program.
At the height of my career my mother became very ill. I resigned to spend time with her. Then, within about six months, both my mother and -- unexpectedly -- my wife passed away. Grief has a strange gravity: it pulls your attention inward, and it forces you to choose what you do with the hours you have left.
That grief pushed me toward the only thing I knew how to do: build. The first sketches were rough, the first scripts were worse, but building gave the days a shape. It was a way to honor the people I loved by creating something that could protect other people's futures.
