Morning coffee, morning clarity

The sun came through the kitchen window at exactly the right angle this morning. I sat with my coffee and watched the steam curl upward and disappear. My daughter is starting school next week. She's nervous, but I think she's more ready than she knows. I remember my own first day — the smell of new crayons and the sound of shoes on linoleum. Some things don't change. I want to remember this exact feeling: the quiet before everything shifts.