I have the right to have a Dad who is committed to what he believes and strives to understand what that means for his role in the world.
I have the right to have a Dad who is in the moment and not living in his head.
I have the right to have a Dad who is healthy and believes in himself enough to strive for this every day.
I have the right to a Dad who loves Mom with all his heart and invests in that love.
I have the right to a Dad who chases his dreams no matter how many years are behind him.
I have the right to walks and talks with Dad that have no specific destination.
No matter how old I get, I have the right to cry on his shoulder or ask for a hugs – because I need one (or just want one).
I have the right to a Dad who needs a shoulder to cry on.
No matter what the clock says in his time-zone or mine, I have the right to call and ask how to fix a leaky faucet, an argument with a friend, or a broken heart.
I have the right to love myself the way he loves me, unconditionally, every day, without waver.
I have the right to call Dad ‘just because’ and expect calls from him for the same reason.
I have the right to not let life’s events and challenges define me.
I have the right to let life’s events and challenges make me a better person.
When Dad is over-the-top proud of me, I have the right to look at myself through his eyes and not doubt the source. (This is the only time that Dad is always right.)
When Dad tells stupid jokes it is within my rights to roll-my-eyes on the outside whether or not I am suppressing an inner chuckle.
I have the right to fail and not try and fix it all myself.
I have the right to fail and laugh at myself, to fail and try again. To fail the way Dad has… over and over again.
I have the right to succeed – bigger than I thought possible and smaller than anyone else will notice. In both cases, I have the right to be proud of myself the way Dad is.
I have the right to ask myself “What would Dad do?” and do it differently because he is not always right and this is my life.
I have the right to be ‘judge and jury’ when Dad is treading on my rights.
I have the right to be enough. To be me. And to invest in becoming 100% me.
I have the right to amend this bill of rights because my life is still unfolding.
And, most importantly I have the right to grant these same rights to Dad.
[Kurt Nahikian is a defender of big ideas and an extraordinary father of a daughter who is taking the world by storm]