When I think of grief, I think of sorrow, sadness, and regret. I was not consciously grieving in a traditional way, so I was caught off guard by my mood and my physical symptoms.

I can see how someone who has no assurance of a better life after death could be overwhelmed with grief after a parent dies, but I can back up my assurance for my Mom and Dad with many scriptures. I have grieved with friends who have faced the deaths of children and spouses. There is great sorrow, even when there is knowledge that they will meet again in heaven.

However after watching my Mom cope bravely with life for four months paralyzed and unable to speak, there was a lot of relief and solace mixed with the sadness when she passed away. I moved toward settling legal issues and resuming my life. Yet something was missing. It was hard to define. There was a spark, an enthusiasm, that just wasn’t there. I found myself skipping exercise and snacking at night. Healthy snacks, of course, I was smarter than to sink to eating avoids.

Most upsetting, I began to have indigestion – for the first time since starting the BTD 7 years ago.

A series of e-mails with my sister, led us both to realize that we were grieving. I described my mood as mentally active but emotionally lethargic. She said that we had been so focused on Mom, that we had never grieved for Dad. I said that I wasn’t sad, but there was a hole in my life.

Once I realized that I was experiencing grief in an unexpected way, I began to take action. I’m doing a better job of planning my exercise. I’m getting more sleep. I’m listening to less news and more music.

Nutritionally I bought some fresh ginger and juiced it. I also increased my ghee intake. I’m encouraged, just two days on ghee and ginger has almost totally eliminated the feelings of indigestion.

Now that I know I’m grieving, I understand that it will be a process. There won’t be any shortcuts. I am confident that faith will lead me through. And in the meantime, I’m glad that beneficial food will relieve the physical symptoms.

My Honorable Husband paid me the biggest compliment possible. He was happily eating a piece of fruitcake, and he was shocked to find out that I had made it. He thought it was a piece of genuine Collin Street Bakery Fruit Cake. DD and I have succeeded in developing a fruit cake that is 100% compliant and mostly beneficial for all Types.

For the cake part, you are going to use a variation on the Walnut Torte recipe on the Blood Type Diet Recipe Center.

Torte Ingredients:
4 eggs (separated)
6 Tbsp honey
1 tsp vanilla
2 cups finely ground walnuts.
1 cup dates, cut into pieces

Other Ingredients
4 cups chopped pecans
1 cup dried pineapple, chopped
1 cup dried papaya, chopped
1 cup raisins
1 cup dried cherries.

Mix the pecans and chopped dried fruit in a large bowl. Spray a tube pan with cooking spray. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees.

Whirl the egg yolks, honey, vanilla and dates in a food processor until they are creamy. (The dates are the key to making the fruit cake stick together.) Stir the ground walnuts into the creamy mixture. Beat the egg whites until they are stiff, then fold into the creamy mixture.

Pour the torte batter over the pecans and dried fruit. Mix together. I could not do this with a spoon. I used both hands. Press the fruit cake batter into the tube pan. Press it firmly, so it will stick together.

Bake until the edges of the cake start to turn brown and a toothpick comes out clean. About 45 minutes.

You may say, wait a minute what about papaya? Isn’t it Toxic for Hunters and Avoid for Type As? True, but it is also neutral for Type Os and beneficial for Teachers. DD and I have decided that if a food is good for us on either the BTD or the GTD, then we will enjoy it. It can’t be all that bad if it isn’t avoid/toxic on both diets. Especially with a fruit or a vegetable, there are phyto-nutrients that will be valuable in building health.

If you like traditional Texas fruit cake, you will enjoy this healthy BTD/GTD variety.

Experiencing BTD foods with someone new to the diet is so enlightening. Spending time with DD and one of her enthusiastic college girlfriends is so much fun. Put the two together and it guarantees a delightful weekend. My Honorable Husband spent the weekend with his mother. They had a good time, talking about family news and relaxing in front of the television. DD and a girlfriend drove in from college to visit me. We did “girl” things all weekend.

In the evenings we curled up under blankets and watched “Anne of Green Gables” movies. We laughed and cried at all of the same parts. I think all of us are just a little bit in love with Gilbert Blythe. On Saturday we drove to a quaint shopping area and strolled in and out of the shops, looking at antiques and designer clothes.

It has been rainy for a week or more, and it is raining again today. But the skies cleared and the sun was out on Saturday. After we got in from shopping, the girls studied for a while, then we all went for a run up and down the hills near our home. All of that would have made it an outstanding Girl Weekend, but there was one more element that made it perfect.

DD’s friend has been interested in diet and exercise for a long time. DD recently introduced her to the BTD, and she immediately saw how well it fit with her natural inclinations toward food. She is Type AB, which is the blood type I knew least about. She has been eliminating avoid foods, and is ready to introduce new fruits and vegetables. The three of us cooked up a storm.

Friday night I cooked salmon with broccoli and butternut squash. DD had never tried butternut squash. Her friend had never tried it with cinnamon. Saturday night we had ground turkey, rutabaga, onions, and sweet potato fries. It is amazing how people wince at the word rutabaga, but how much they enjoy it cooked with olive oil, cinnamon, cloves and onion. Saturday night I smoked a turkey. So when we came in from church, we sliced the turkey and pulled out all of the leftover vegetables including some black beans and mustard greens that I had fixed for myself one day for lunch. It was a feast.

I had a refrigerator full of fruit including grapes cherries, grapefruit, apples, pears and persimmons. By far the best thing we ate was fruit cake. Ever since New Years, DD and I have been eager to tweak our fruit cake recipe. In an earlier blog I reported that it tasted really good, but that it didn’t hold together, and I could not slice it. This time it came out both beautiful and delicious. I’ll share the recipe next time.

Before the girls left to drive back to college, we did a kick boxing video together. It was so reaffirming that I could hold my own exercising with those two 20 year olds.

My sister, who lived in Western Europe for more than 20 years, has moved to one of the former Soviet republics. When she was home for Mom’s funeral, I asked her what new foods she was enjoying in her new culture.

She mentioned two fruits: persimmons and pomegranates. Persimmons are beneficial for Type A Teachers, and pomegranates are super beneficial on the Type O Cancer Diet. DD chimed in saying that she had bought both in her local grocery store and found them both impossible to eat.

My sister laughed and told us what she had learned from her new friends.

Persimmons in the store are usually beautiful and bright orange. In this condition they are still unripe. Put pretty persimmons in a window or on a counter top. Watch as they start to become less bright. They begin to look a little brown. When the skin has kind of a translucent glow, they are ripe.

To eat a ripe persimmon, cut off the top and scoop the insides out with a spoon.

I bought persimmons. I was not convinced that I would recognize when they were ripe. Each day the bright orange faded, and they became more of a rust color. One day I saw what my sister meant by translucent glow. I waited one more day and tried it.

Oh my! What a delightful fruit. It was sweet and soft. I had expected it to be stringy, but it wasn’t at all. It was like eating pudding or sorbet. Persimmons are back on my shopping list.

This success inspires me to buy pomegranates. Pomegranate juice is popular in my part of the world, but I don’t see people rushing out to buy the fruit. I’ll let you know how they are when eaten according to the Eastern European manner.