One day after Lt. Col. Dor Ben Shimon was killed in combat in southern Lebanon, his widow, herself a combat officer, published a Facebook post on Saturday morning mourning her husband. She wrote that she first met him eight years ago during her military course, when she noticed him after he gave a debrief on a traffic accident he had handled, and recalled thinking, “Oh, there he is.”
In her tribute, she said that although as a military family they had spent only a few months physically together, in total he had given her “the seven most beautiful years” of her life. She described those years as filled with “true love,” innocence, shared building, and starting a family, and said he left her with their two daughters, whom she called “the most amazing in the world.”
She wrote that she may stop being bothered when people say the girls resemble him, because she hopes they will keep him present in her life every day. She also promised him that the girls would know who he was. One daughter, Ayala, already asked in the morning for him to come back, and the other, Gaia, created the usual commotion he had not yet fully experienced.
Ben Shimon’s widow added that they were built as “a whole greater than the sum of its parts,” though “a very large part of my heart is torn today.” She noted that Ayala will soon turn three and that he still owes her a birthday present. Ending her message, she wrote: “For the last time, Kodkod my love, this is Kodkod beloved. I love you and will love you forever. End.”
