okay so here goes nothing... i mean i never really do this stuff but like it's just been EATING at me for weeks. months even. almost a year really. it's about the bakery. our bakery. my parents' bakery. and me. i'm like 50. give or take a year or two. and i still work at the bakery. my whole life. literally my whole damn life it feels like. started sweeping floors when i was like knee-high. helping dad with the early morning bake when i was in high school. then it was full-time after that. just... that's what you do right? family business. it's like ingrained. in my DNA or somethin. and my parents. they're getting older. dad's knees are shot from standing all those years. mom's got her memory stuff. they still come in. every day. little bit less now. but they're always there. watching. smiling. talking to the regulars. everyone knows them. everyone loves 'em. it's like a whole thing. the "so and so family bakery" in this town. small town. everyone knows your business. good and bad. mostly good for them. but i... i dunno. i've been going to school part-time. just some business classes at night. online mostly. kinda just to keep my brain busy you know? get away from the flour dust for a few hours. and it's like... it's opened my eyes. to stuff. to other possibilities. like franchising. i never even thought about it before. not really. it was always just "the bakery." one bakery. always. and now... now i've been like secretly developing a whole plan. a whole business model. for a whole CHAIN of bakeries. same kind of vibe. cozy. good coffee. fresh bread. but like... BIGGER. more locations. more profits. more... everything. i've even looked at like commercial real estate. talked to some guys who specialize in this stuff. they're like "yeah this is totally doable. it's a solid concept." and i just sit there nodding like "yeah yeah totally." while my stomach is doing like triple backflips. i went to this one lecture last month. about scaling up small businesses. and the speaker was talking about how some founders just... don't wanna grow. they're happy with what they have. happy with their little corner of the world. and it's like a choice. and that really got me. it really hit me hard. because that's my parents. exactly. they love the bakery. they love the customers. they love the routine. they don't want more. they never wanted more. i mean i remember when i was like 20 and i suggested we start selling online. just a simple website. maybe ship some of our specialty cookies. and my dad just looked at me like i had grown a second head. "why would we do that son? people like coming in. they like seeing us." and mom just nodded. "it's not about the money honey. it's about the connection." and i just... dropped it. like always. but i want more. i do. i want to see how far this thing can go. i want to build something. something bigger. and i know it sounds so greedy. like i'm a terrible person. i mean i really do. i'm sitting here typing this and i feel like such a jerk. like i'm betraying them. their whole life's work. everything they built. this legacy. and i'm just... gonna take it and turn it into some faceless corporation. that's what it feels like. sometimes. i even had a dream the other night. that i told them. i told them about my plans. and my mom just started crying. like full on sobbing. and my dad just looked at me with this like... disappointment. like i had let them down in the biggest way possible. and i woke up in a cold sweat. it felt so real. so real i almost called in sick to the bakery yesterday. just couldn't face them. it's not even like i don't love the bakery. i do. i love the smell of the yeast in the morning. i love watching the bread rise. i love seeing the happy faces when someone bites into a fresh pastry. i love it all. but it's like... it's not enough anymore. and that sounds so awful to say. but it's the truth. for me. it's not enough. i don't even know what i'm gonna do. like i can't just keep this secret forever. it's gnawing at me. but i also can't just spring this on them. i can't. it would break their hearts. i know it would. and then what? do i just... leave? start my own thing from scratch? that feels even worse somehow. like i'm stealing their ideas. their recipes. their whole identity. i mean i don't even — whatever. i just feel so stuck. so completely stuck between wanting to honor them and wanting to be... me. wanting to do what i want to do. for once. without feeling like i'm letting everyone down. i dunno. anyone else ever feel like they're just... waiting for the axe to fall? this whole thing is just a ticking time bomb. and i'm the one who lit the fuse. great. just great.