Yesterday was a big day. You know when you park at a meter, but you’re pulled up too far because the jerk behind you parked beyond their spot, and then you get a $58 parking ticket? That happened. I also had an intense double therapy session. And my younger son tried soccer for the first time.

And, also, I found out The Big Bang Theory’s upcoming season 12 will be its final one. Life, as my mentor says, is in session.

Am I happy? Of course not. This has been my job since Melissa Rauch and I joined the cast as regulars in season 4. I love my job. I love my castmates, and I feel such appreciation for our incredible crew, our brave writers, our entire staff, and our amazing fans. So many people are a part of our Big Bang family.

This is hard. I love coming to work and pretending to be Amy. She’s a riot. She’s me, and I am her. And soon she will not be mine to create.

I am a mother of two sons, which is my most critically important job. I am planning a Bar Mitzvah (it’s in a month!) and making sure soccer cleats fit. I protect tiny hearts, and I explain the world to these small people. That’s my job.

The cast of the ‘Big Bang Theory’ on their first day of filming season 12, the series’ final season.

But my paying job—the one you know me for—is ending and yes: It’s very sad. I fear it’s going to be very hard to not cry every day for the next 23 episodes! But, as a cast, we love bringing joy to our viewers and we will continue to do that to the best of our collective ability.

Being an actor is profoundly humbling, incredibly gratifying, and terribly complex. Being an employed actor on what is the #1 comedy in America is unbelievable. And the fact that so many people consider us a part of their lives and families is powerful. I don’t take any of it for granted.

And now I start to figure out what next. Where will life take me? Where will this career go? What do I want?

Mostly, I want to thank our fans for loving us hard enough to keep this train going for 12 years. And when it’s time to get off, another train will pull up to the station. “You don’t need no baggage, you just get on board.”