When my dad was dying, I asked everyone I thought might know what to expect, only to be receive, over and over again, the wholly unsatisfying answer: it looks different for everyone. There are markers that most, or some, or many go through, but no one could draw me what I really wanted: a detailed map, with clearly demarcated stops, to the end.
As part of most baseball team’s opening day festivities, fans are handed a glossy 162-stop plan to the end to stick on the fridge or filing cabinet; whatever happens beyond that depends on if your team believes in the afterlife of the postseason or not.