Today, 6 August 2021, Shulamit would have celebrated her 90th birthday. In fact, it would have been her 92nd, but in 1947, her father changed her year of birth – from 1929 to 1931 – in the official registry to prevent her from enrolling to the army fighting Israel’s war of independence. In the process of re-inventing her birthday, somehow her date of birth was lost, and her official documents ended up stating a date in March.
All of this confusion did not concern her, because what mattered was that her favourite flowers – her Birthday Flowers – bloomed in the first week of August. That was her true celebration, and she gave us bulbs of her flowers that still bloom on her birthday, even after she was gone.
Safta Shula loved celebrating her birthday with a flair. She would wear a blouse and a silk scarf of her favourite colour – purple or lilac – and add a matching necklace and lipstick. She enjoyed indulging with a delicious cake or two, drinking a cocktail (gin and orange juice) and going out for an elegant lunch at a restaurant, preferably eating white fish on the grill with a salad without vinaigrette, just lightly seasoned with olive oil and a squeeze of fresh lemon. After years of exhausting work, running a house, raising four children while also working full time, she was ready to enjoy life with no scruples. We were lucky to celebrate so many birthdays with her.
Shulamit Efrati Asherov 