Mary loves this story about my father, and asked me to tell it, and since it also fits the qualifications for One-Liner Wednesday (or it can be made to fit), here it is.

Dad inherited his mother’s stomach. She developed such bad ulcers after her husband died that she ended up having most of her stomach removed. Dad never required surgery for his ulcers, but was cautioned to watch the spicy food and alcohol and not to eat to excess to prevent painful repercussions. This was advice he usually followed.

One night, he and Mom went out to dinner with some friends to an Italian restaurant. Dad was in a particularly good mood, and according to Mom, went overboard: two or three Martinis before dinner, antipasto, Chicken Vesuvio (which, as the name implies, contains a lot of spices, particularly garlic), several glasses of Chianti with dinner, coffee and several shots of B&B (Benedictine and Brandy) after dinner, and a dessert that contained fresh fruit.

Needless to say, within an hour of arriving home, the Chicken Vesuvio (and everything else) erupted, and Dad spent a good half hour in the bathroom heaving his guts out. Having flushed a good portion of the feast he had eaten down the toilet, he stumbled into the bedroom, and said to Mom (whose nickname was Bunny),

Now Bunny, you know I shouldn’t eat fresh fruit!

Long after Dad died, Mom told that story and laughed as hard as she must have that night.

One-Liner Wednesday is brought to you each week at this time by Linda Hill and this station. Now a word about Fresca, from the Coca-Cola Company. It can make a beautiful difference in you!