Sidney Poitier's Daughter Anika Says She Will Miss Seeing Her Dad's 'Happy Dance' After His Death
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Sidney Poitier's daughter, Anika, is sharing some of her fondest memories with her late father, who died at age 94 on Thursday.
Anika — one of Sidney's six daughters — penned a heartfelt essay about her father, which was published by The Hollywood Reporter on Wednesday.
"As we begin to navigate this uncharted territory of life without my father, I realize that there is an infinite list of things I will miss," she wrote.
While her father was known for his achievements in the civil rights movement and his historic Hollywood career, Anika said it wasn't the "larger iconic moments" she would miss the most about Sidney, but rather the "smaller private ones."
Ken Hively/Los Angeles Times via Getty
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"I will miss hugging him in his cashmere sweaters and listening to him ponder the cosmos," she wrote. "I will miss his laughter, his smile and his silly sense of humor. I have so many family memories of us just laughing, the kind of infectious laughter that just won't stop until the tears are streaming down our faces."
Along with Anika, Sidney was also dad to daughters Beverly, Pamela, and Sherri, whom he shared with his first wife, Juanita. When Sidney remarried in 1976, he had two more children with Joanna Shimkus: Anika and her sister, Sydney Tamiia.
Sidney and Juanita's youngest daughter, Gina, died at age 57 in 2018.
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In her THR tribute, Anika said Sidney would want her to seek comfort from her family, writing, "in my sorrow I can hear my father's voice telling me to look to my family for solace."
"When I do, I see his love of family in my mother. I see him in my beautiful sisters. In Beverly, I see his conviction," she wrote. "In Pam, I see his strength; in Sherri, I see his delightful sense of humor; in Gina, I see his compassion, and in Sydney, his artistry. I hear him in my son's laughter, and I see him in my daughter's passion for social justice."
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Anika's tribute comes after her sister, Sydney, shared her own sweet memories with her late dad. In a Tuesday Instagram post, Sydney said "there are no words" and "no real way to prepare" for the loss of her father.
"We know how graceful and wise he was. How powerful his strength of character and moral fortitude. But what I really want people to know is how GOOD he was," she shared. "I know people know he was good, but I don't think they know the depth of his goodness. That it permeated every cell of his being. The sort of goodness that prevented him from killing even the tiniest of bugs."
She later added, "I will miss you more than words can express Dad. I will feel you in the warmth of the sun on my back, I will hear you in the wind in the trees and I will look for you among the stars where you will surely be," before closing out her message by writing, "I love you."
