While we were on our vacation, I followed the Blood Type Diet, except for the minor deviations I mentioned. I probably dropped from 97% compliant to 87%. My daughter stayed with the Blood Type Diet the whole trip. My son ate like a Type O except he ate too much wheat. Once he said, "Mom, does it bother you that I eat bread?" I told him that I got away with eating wheat for many years, but that it eventually caught up with me. "You are young and active," I said. "One of these days you'll start having trouble. At least when it happens, you will know what's wrong. It took me 10 years of experimenting before I learned what was causing the trouble."

My husband was a different matter. At home he eats like a Type A because I serve him Type A food for breakfast lunch and dinner. When we eat out, he usually asks me what would be good choices for him. But on the cruise he ignored the BTD and ate whatever he wanted. He had steak. He had shrimp, lobster, and many other avoids. He ignored the legume and vegetarian choices that would be good for him.

In the same way that I can't force someone to turn their life to God, I can't force someone, even someone I love, to eat right. In both cases, I have to wait until they sense the need for themselves.

On the last night of the cruise he had acid reflux, and was pretty uncomfortable. That did not stop him from having two hamburgers and my Mom's beef tenderloin en route home. He was, by then, quite miserable.

Our daughter lit into him. She told him he knew better than to eat the way he had. "Cows are cute," she said. "They are not for you and me to eat! Save the cows, Dad." He tried to flee to another room, but she stayed after him, fixing him peppermint tea and blasting him for his poor choices. He turned to me, but I just grinned. I didn't need to say a word.

Today he is much better. I think he has learned a lesson, but it took another Type A to teach it to him.