Despite the tragedies that envelop us all, the beginning of the year seems to be a good time for reflection, and simply counting one’s blessings. In our family, my husband, the Patriarch of the family is not well; In fact his health is quite precarious. And even though life is hard, we have had some great blessings this past year.

We had a birth in the family this fall. Our son Will and his wife Kara welcomed another child, Meredith Addington Lloyd, in September. They are a family of five now, since the twins were 16 months old when Meredith was born. Remember the accounting of the twin’s birth which turned out to be a nightmare? My daughter in law decided this time she would try to take no drugs whatsoever, and she accomplished the task. There were no complications like last time with the inability to walk due to damaged femoral nerves. Meredith is doing great. Breast feeding agrees with her, and she is a happy healthy baby. Although Meredith is my third grandchild, she is my husband’s 11th. He also has two great grandchildren. Not bad for an only child.

Another blessing this year is that our grandson, Matthew Lloyd, came back safely from Iraq. One of the last big helicopter crashes was his group from Hawaii, and his best friend died, but he came home. We saw him at Christmas, and all I could do was cry when I first saw him. Our heart goes out to all those families that are grieving, because their sons and daughters did not come home from serving their country.

The good news for all of us on this website is simply that the blood type diet has evolved. I was so excited to get my hands on The Genotype Diet. Being a patient of Dr. D’s, I’ve had all those measurements in his office, and he explained them all to me, but to really understand it, I need to read and study this new book. Apparently, I am a “Teacher.”

That designation symbolically fits me very well.

Years ago, when I read Genetic Nutritioneering by Jeffrey Bland, it was certainly encouraging to read that one can overcome their genetic propensities to disease. (Dr. D’s work is mentioned in that book). The future for our children and grandchildren is prevention, since we all live in such an unhealthy society.

Diet, exercise, stress reduction and avoiding carcinogens are no easy tasks. If anyone thinks the powers that be are really interested in physical health, then maybe we could call our whole country “fantasy land.” The toy recalls are a perfect example of how well the government protects us. And now they want to feed us “frankinfood” and cloned animals. Greed from the top down is killing Americans at a rapid rate.

However, the good news is simply this is a good time of year to take control of one’s destiny. Each of us can do what we can to stay healthy. It’s not all in our control that is for sure. But some of it is. And that is the hard part when it comes to change and individual responsibility. So many people are willing to take a pill instead of changing their life. Obviously if you are reading this, you are in that group of people that is enlightened, and that is a good thing. And I salute you for that. And I salute Dr. D for leading us all in the right direction.