It used to be, that when someone mentioned the word “columbine”, the first image that came to mind was our lovely state flower... the Rocky Mountain columbine...a delicate blue and white flower with long, graceful, arcing spurs that grows in the most unlikely of places in the high country.

All that has changed now.

It was 6 years ago, April 20, 1999... a day that will live forever in the minds of all Coloradoans. One of those days that you will always remember “where you were” when you heard the news. I just happened to turn on the television as a fluke that afternoon and caught the local coverage of the tragedy of the Columbine School shootings... at that point they did not know how many students and teachers had been killed.

We reeled in the wake of it all, not only as a region, but as a nation, too. But I specifically remember an interview with a local sheriff who was one of the authorities that had entered the high school once all the students had been evacuated, and I remember that sheriff forcefully remarking that, “Whoever had done this was pure evil”.

That comment angered me above and beyond all else that was said about the Columbine tragedy. Dylan and Eric were not evil. They were teenagers... boys, really. Somebody’s babies. And remarks like that are especially damaging and abusive to their families and friends... to all who loved those boys.

A friend of mine taught at Columbine High School both before and after the shootings, and she had both Dylan and Eric in her classes. I asked her a couple of years ago about her impressions of them as students and she remarked that they were just like any other teenager, no different at all. She was also part of a governor appointed task force to study why a tragedy like this happened at Columbine High School, and they found a few interesting things. First of all, Columbine High School had one minute less per passing period than other high schools its size in Colorado. Also, the building is very industrial, all classrooms are the same size and configuration... the whole building was designed for efficiency, with a lack of spaces and opportunity for students and the entire school community to connect. The task force concluded that the lack of opportunities for connection within the school community could lead to students “falling through the cracks” as it were - completely disconnected from the school community.

Now... were they grasping at straws trying to find something tangible as a causation here? Perhaps... but I still believe it has merit. Every year at this time, in the weeks following the anniversary of Columbine, I find myself thinking about the importance of community to the well-being of all people, and the need for a sense of connection, or belonging to that community.

What has all this to do with the Blood Type Diet, you ask? Well, for those of you who have tried the BTD for awhile, you may have found that it can be a very difficult lifestyle to maintain by yourself under a rock somewhere. Sure, you feel great eating right for your type but everywhere you turn there is wheat, corn, and carrageenan. How much longer it takes to do grocery shopping just due to label reading! And oh the minefields of restaurants, potlucks, and yes, meals with family and relatives especially. How do you BTD with a reluctant spouse or child? What about maintaining compliance while traveling? How do I, really now, make it fit into my life... or make my life fit with the BTD??? Yes, very difficult to do as a solo act.

And this is why the importance, and dare I say, necessity of finding a community of support is so crucial to success on the BTD. There are many BTDer’s out there brimming over with knowledge, skills, lessons learned... and fortunately for us, Dr. D’Adamo has provided us with a wonderful opportunity to share, learn, and grow together as a community through the BTD Community forums. So if you are struggling with making the BTD fit for you, please take advantage of the wealth of wisdom available at the Community Forums.

I would hate for one of you to fall through the cracks...