The way you leave a job, a team or a relationship is the part people remember longest.

Endings get remembered out of proportion to everything before them. Months of being reliable compress into one impression formed in the last week, partly because that is when people pay closest attention and partly because it is the last data they have. It is unfair to the earlier version of you and it is how memory works.

When something is ending, decide how you want it described later and act that way for the final stretch. Say the honest thank you, finish the handover, resist the parting line you have been saving. You are writing the summary.