46
In Douglass Adams’ hilarious book The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy, it takes Deep Thought (the megacomputer) 7 1/2 years to determine that the answer to life, the universe, and everything is 42. Having received the answer, everyone decides they don’t really know the exact question. Figuring that out, says Deep Thought, is a virtual impossibility.
Yesterday, Zoe sat in my lap after we finished a book together, and hugging her I asked, “Do you know how much I love you?”
“Yes.” She said immediately.
“Really?” I said, amazed at the speed and matter-of-fact way in which she had responded. “How much?”
“About 46.”
Well, if Deep Thought was right and the answer to life, the universe, and everything really is 42, then as Kevin later pointed out, Zoe’s answer was fairly accurate. Aside from God, there’s nothing in life, the universe, and all of everything else that I love more than my family.:)
Never mind loving you to the moon and back and all that. At the Circus, we’ll just settle for 46.
