I love you, Daddy

Every week, I take my four-year old son, Daniel, to his favorite place on earth: A big, indoor playground.

He jumps right in with the other kids. Meanwhile, I look up every 30 seconds from my book to make sure he’s having fun and staying safe.

It’s a big place. In fact, that’s what Daniel calls it: “The Big Place.”

It’s also a noisy place. Imagine a few dozen kids screaming and shouting.

This week, as I was reading my book, I heard the faint sound of a familiar voice: “Daddy! Daddy!”

I quickly looked up, scanned the room, and spotted Daniel in one of the clear, plastic bubbles that perches high atop the play structure. He was smiling and waving at me.

I smiled and waved back.

Then he yelled just loud enough that I could hear it through the plastic bubble: “I love you, Daddy!”

Lightning bolt through the heart.

I wouldn’t take being on the cover of magazines, a billion dollars, a Nobel prize, or the Oval Office in exchange for those four words from that little boy.

The stuff the world tries to pass off as worth something is some ridiculous shit, isn’t it?

“I love you, Daddy.”

There you have it. I’ve got it all.