DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. – When you see Sidney Sims with his daughter, Dee Blair, you can’t help but smile.
“I’m just happy to have her in my life. I love this little girl right here,” said Sims, who lives in Daytona Beach.
This Thanksgiving, the two have plenty to be thankful for.
“I’m gonna stay a little bit longer just so I can get a little bit more weight before I go back home,” Blair, who lives in Arizona, shared with a laugh.
It’s hard to believe this will be the first holiday the two will spend together after nearly 50 years apart.
“There was just a missing piece of me,” she explained. “I always wondered who else I looked like. I’m a split image of my mom, but I always felt there was another part of me I didn’t fully grasp.”
The father and daughter discovered their connection just three years ago after taking a MyHeritage DNA test.
In 2021, they met for the first time, ending a 20-year search for Blair, who had been looking for her biological father since she was 16-years old.
“It’s actually more than what I thought,” she said. “I thought I’d get a conversation, maybe be introduced to a few family members, and that would’ve been it for me. I was just fortunate and lucky they accepted me. Now they’ve got another big-headed daughter.”
The pair plans to make up for lost time by enjoying dad’s smoked ham, meeting more family and creating new memories together.
Blair also shared that she plans to add Sims to her last name so that her newfound family will always stay with her.