I love you beyond.

The first word Marley legibly wrote was "Mom." The second word was "love". As she started to write sentences, the first sentences she wrote had the same words in them as her first words. "To Mom and Dad," she wrote, "I love you." She writes a lot about love still, as a six year old in kindergarten.

"Mom," she said the other day.

"What?" I asked. I was "busy", because there always seems to be SOMETHING more important than relaxing and taking time to listen.

"How do you spell 'beyond'?" she asked.

"What do you mean?" I replied, wondering if I heard her correctly.

"Because Mom, I'm writing 'I love you beyond,' and that's a lot, right? It's the most. It's beyond."

"Oh. B-E-Y-O-N-D. Be-yond." I spelled it for her and went on with whatever I was doing, this time less rushed and more relaxed. I sunk into a meditative state, pondering "beyond", while doing dishes.

Meta-physics means beyond the physical. I like words. I like to break them down and analyze every detail of their definitions. As a philosopher and theologian, studying metaphysics is right up my alley. I'm fascinated by the spiritual world. I'm in love with love. But I had never thought of loving "beyond". And much to my six-year old's credit, to love someone "beyond" really does make sense. It does mean to love them "the most," beyond the physical measurement and into the spiritual world.

Five minutes later, I received my newest work of art from Marley. "To Mom," I read, "I love you beyond."

Sometimes I am sure I learn more from my children than they learn from me. "I love you beyond too Marley."