The photos are always of the ride. Nobody takes a picture of the walk back.
We tell founder stories backward. Exit first, then the hard parts arranged neatly behind it like they were always leading somewhere.
That is not how it felt. Much of it felt like packing up again.
Payrolls I was not sure I could make. Family dinners I missed. Stretches where the whole plan was: just keep going.
The good years can tend to blur. You remember the ones you barely got through.
Anyone can ride. Fewer can walk back.