If it’s a daily struggle to get your teen to say more than five words to you, we apologize for the impending jealousy. And we urge you to turn to Dwyane Wade and his 17-year-old daughter Zaya Wade for inspiration. The father-daughter duo just created vision boards together, and it’s one of the most wholesome things we’ve seen in a while.
The NBA Hall of Famer and his teen sat down with giant sheets of paper, stacks of magazines, and some crucial craft supplies: scissors, glue sticks, and markers. As part of an ongoing videos series for the Translatable Project (more on that in a second!), the two had a moving conversation while making vision boards.
It turns out a lil’ craft plus a lil’ chat equals a whole lot of cuteness!
Zaya started out by asking her dad why he loves vision boards. He’s an avid vision board-er, if you will, making multiple boards a year.
“Throughout the year, your visions grow … and they may evolve a little bit, yeah,” he said in a clip. “I like doing them because you put the onus on yourself … to actually accomplish the things that you say you want to accomplish.”
It really is such a beautiful, inspiring, meditative, and artistic practice. And while, it was so special that the two could independently work on theirs side-by-side while having a deep conversation, it’s also something parents and younger kids could work on together. Perhaps Dwyane also makes vision boards with his 7-year-old daughter Kaavia, who he shares with wife Gabrielle Union.
From there, the pair talked about the importance of goal planning and why they value organization, all while taste-testing some cookies they made and laughing while they struggled to open some markers. It was such a pleasure to see the full video on Translatable and see the way the father and daughter lovingly interact.
They also discussed some of the words and phrases they each chose for their boards. Dwyane — who also shares sons Zaire and Xavier with ex Siohvaughn Funches — asked Zaya why she chose “women” in big bold letters.
“‘Women’ as an entity of sorts is something that I strive every day to achieve,” Zaya said. For those who don’t know, the teen came out as transgender when she was 12 years old.
“It’s not like femininity or anything like that, but it’s, it’s like everything that being a woman encapsulates … the ups and it’s the downs,” she continued. “And I think being a part of that space or community is almost something like a goal to aspire to. I mean, I’m not trying to lose myself in assimilating, but I want to get to a point where I feel for me 100% ‘woman.'”
“I don’t even know what that actually fully looks like to me. I probably won’t know for a long time, or maybe until it finds me, but that’s what I want,” she told her ever-supportive father.
Last May, the father-daughter duo teamed up to create Translatable. According to its site, Translatable “is a safe space for LGBTQIA+ youth to express themselves and is a resource hub for our parents, families, and support systems.” Dwyane and Union have always been remarkable champions for their [step]daughter.
In Feb. 2023, the couple was honored at the NAACP Awards for their philanthropic efforts supporting LGBTQ+ rights.
“Even though it’s not easy, I watched you walk out of that house every morning as yourself,” Dwyane said to Zaya in his acceptance speech. “I admire how you’ve handled the ignorance in our world. I admire that you face every day.”
“You’ve made me a better human just simply by being who you were born to be,” he continued. “Our baby girl. Thank you for showing the world what courage looks like.”
These celeb parents are so proud of their LGBTQ kids.
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