{"id":295,"date":"2026-07-19T07:20:27","date_gmt":"2026-07-19T07:20:27","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/cookverse.delicedcook.com\/?p=295"},"modified":"2026-07-19T07:20:27","modified_gmt":"2026-07-19T07:20:27","slug":"my-wife-took-our-son-and-daughter-on-a-trip-and-they-never-came-back-40-years-later-i-found-a-box-hidden-inside-my-daughters-mattress-that-made-my-blood-run-cold","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/cookverse.delicedcook.com\/?p=295","title":{"rendered":"My Wife Took Our Son and Daughter on a Trip, and They Never Came Back \u2013 40 Years Later, I Found a Box Hidden Inside My Daughter\u2019s Mattress That Made My Blood Run Cold"},"content":{"rendered":"
<\/div>\n
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I spent 40 years mourning the family I believed I\u2019d lost in one terrible night. When failing health forced me to clear out the rooms I\u2019d kept untouched, I uncovered evidence that challenged everything I\u2019d been told and pointed toward a betrayal much closer to home.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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Forty years after my wife took our children on a short trip and vanished, I found a box sewn inside my daughter\u2019s mattress.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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The first line of Clara\u2019s note made my hands go numb.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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\u201cAndrew, if you\u2019re reading this, something has happened to me. Read everything carefully. Don\u2019t trust Gwen.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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For 40 years, I\u2019d believed my family had died in a river.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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Now I knew someone had buried the truth inside my own house.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

\n
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\u201c<\/span> \u201cDon\u2019t trust Gwen.\u201d \u201e<\/span><\/p><\/blockquote>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

\n
\n

***<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

\n

That morning, my nephew, Jackson, arrived with 12 empty boxes and no patience left for my excuses.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

\n

\u201cYou were on the kitchen floor for three hours, Uncle Andrew,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

\n

He stared at me.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

\n

\u201cThat correction is exactly why you can\u2019t live alone.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

\n

\u201cI slipped.\u201d<\/p>\n

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\u201cAnd you couldn\u2019t reach your phone. The doctor said that next time, you could be there overnight.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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***<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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At 73, I knew Jackson was right. He wanted me to sell the house and move in with him.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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I agreed on one condition.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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\u201cNothing gets thrown away without my permission.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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\u201cFine. You still have receipts from 1989.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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\u201cPaper remembers better than people.\u201d<\/p>\n

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Jackson picked up a box. \u201cWhere do we start?\u201d<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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\u201cShaun\u2019s room.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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Shaun had been six when he vanished. His cars and blue blanket remained untouched.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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I picked up the silver watch beside his lamp and wound it.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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Jackson watched me\u201dIt loses four minutes a day.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

<\/p>\n

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\u201cThen why keep winding it?\u201d<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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\u201cBecause Shaun hated it when it stopped.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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I slipped it into my pocket.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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***<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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We moved to Aria\u2019s room.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

\n

She had been nine. She loved sewing dresses for her dolls, though every seam leaned because she pulled the thread too tight.<\/p>\n

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Her unfinished dollhouse still sat near the window, its front door hanging crooked.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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\u201cDon\u2019t touch that,\u201d I said.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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\u201cYou\u2019ve had 40 years to fix it.\u201d<\/p>\n

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My legs weakened, so I sat on Aria\u2019s bed.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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A sharp crack sounded beneath me.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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Jackson turned.<\/p>\n

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\u201cWas that the frame?\u201d<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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\u201cNo.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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\u201cHow do you know?\u201d<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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\u201cI repaired wood for 45 years. That sound came from inside the mattress.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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We turned it over and found a puckered seam with tight, uneven stitches.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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\u201cAria did this,\u201d I said. \u201cShe always pulled the thread too tight.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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I cut the seam, reached inside, and pulled out a dust-covered wooden box.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

<\/p>\n

<\/div>\n
\n
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***<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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Inside were photographs, a letter from Gwen, a birthday card, and two folded notes.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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The photographs showed me with a woman from work. In one, my hand rested on her arm. In another, we were entering a caf?.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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I knew how they looked.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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However, it was my wife\u2019s handwriting on the first page that stole my breath.<\/p>\n

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\u201cAndrew, if you\u2019re reading this, something has happened to me. Read everything carefully. Don\u2019t trust Gwen. There\u2019s something you never knew.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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The note ended there.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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Under it was a page written in purple crayon.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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\u201cDaddy, I hid Mommy\u2019s letter because I didn\u2019t want you to be mad. I\u2019m sorry. Please don\u2019t let her leave.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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I read it three times.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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Jackson sat beside me.<\/p>\n

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\u201cAria hid the box.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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\u201cShe thought Clara was leaving me.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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He picked up the photographs.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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\u201cWho is this woman?\u201d<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

<\/p>\n

<\/div>\n
\n
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\u201cWas there an affair?\u201d<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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\u201cI never touched her.\u201d<\/p>\n

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\u201cI didn\u2019t accuse you, Uncle Andrew.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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\u201cYour face did.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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\u201cThen explain.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

\n

Sarah feared losing her job after being treated unfairly, so she asked me to meet privately.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

\n

\u201cDid Clara know?\u201d Jackson asked.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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\u201cNo. It wasn\u2019t my story to tell.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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\u201cYou could\u2019ve told her enough.\u201d<\/p>\n

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I looked away.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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***<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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Years earlier, Clara had asked why I kept coming home late.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

\n

\u201cIs there something you need to tell me?\u201d she\u2019d asked.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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\u201cNothing you need to worry about,\u201d I\u2019d said.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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At the time, I\u2019d believed silence was honorable.<\/p>\n

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Now it sounded like a locked door.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

\n

Jackson unfolded Gwen\u2019s letter.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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Gwen\u2019s letter gave directions to her home and recommended a motel if the children needed a break.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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Clara had taken Aria and Shaun on a short trip to visit her sister.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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I had been overwhelmed with work, so they went without me.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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When Clara had not called by nine, I phoned Gwen.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

<\/p>\n

\u201cIs Clara there?\u201d<\/p>\n

\n

I stood so quickly that my chair struck the wall.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

\n

\u201cCheck with the neighbors. Shaun may have gotten sick.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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\u201cShe would\u2019ve called.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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\u201cCheck anyway.\u201d<\/p>\n

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***<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

\n

By midnight, the police had Clara\u2019s route and car description.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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They found it below a river bridge the next day. Its parking brake had failed after Clara left it on the shoulder. Divers found no bodies, and years later, a court declared all three dead.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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***<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

\n

Gwen\u2019s letter gave us the first place Clara might have stopped.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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\u201cWe\u2019re going there,\u201d I told Jackson.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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\u201cNot until you take your medication,\u201d Jackson said, taking my coat.<\/p>\n

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\u201cI\u2019ve already lost 40 years.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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\u201cThen don\u2019t collapse before you get an answer. I\u2019ll drive.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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***<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

\n

The motel was now an apartment building. An elderly woman in the lobby studied Clara\u2019s photograph.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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\u201cI remember her. Her son had a fever, and she kept trying to call her husband.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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I showed her Gwen\u2019s picture.<\/p>\n

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\u201cDid this woman come?\u201d<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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\u201cYes. They argued. Your wife wanted to go home and hear the truth from her husband.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

<\/div>\n

<\/p>\n

\n
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\u201cI\u2019m the husband. What did Gwen say?\u201d \u201e<\/span><\/p><\/blockquote>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

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\u201cShe said you\u2019d already left town with another woman.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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My chest seized.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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\u201cThat was a lie.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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Jackson pulled out a chair.<\/p>\n

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\u201cSit.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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\u201cI need one more answer.\u201d I faced the woman. \u201cDid Clara leave willingly?\u201d<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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\u201cYes, but she looked dizzy when she got into the car.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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***<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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After my breathing settled, Jackson drove me to Sarah\u2019s home.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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I placed Gwen\u2019s photographs on her table.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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\u201cClara saw these.\u201d<\/p>\n

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Sarah\u2019s face drained.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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\u201cShe thought we were together?\u201d<\/p>\n

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Sarah\u2019s records proved every photograph showed a documented meeting.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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Sarah looked at me.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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\u201cI told you to explain enough to Clara.\u201d<\/p>\n

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\u201cI couldn\u2019t expose your case.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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\u201cYou could\u2019ve protected me without shutting out your wife. You left an empty space, Andrew. Gwen filled it.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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On the drive home, I stared at the passing road.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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***<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

\n

I had mistaken faithfulness for innocence.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

\n

Clara asked for reassurance, and I\u2019d handed her a wall Gwen used against us.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

<\/p>\n

Back at the house, I unfolded Aria\u2019s crayon note.<\/p>\n

\n

\u201cWe don\u2019t know that,\u201d Jackson said.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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\u201cA child who writes this doesn\u2019t forget it.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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My goal changed.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

\n

I still wanted the truth, but first, I needed to find my daughter before she spent another day believing she had destroyed our family.<\/p>\n

\n

After three days, Jackson found a school counselor matching Clara\u2019s maiden name, the town, and Aria\u2019s age.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

\n

In her photograph, she held one elbow, just as Aria did when nervous.<\/p>\n

\n

\u201cBecause she looks like Clara?\u201d<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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\u201cNo. Because she looks like herself.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

\n

Jackson offered to contact her, but I refused.<\/p>\n

\n

I deleted two drafts, one cold and one angry.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

\n

Finally, I wrote:<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

\n

\u201cAria, I don\u2019t know what you were told.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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I only know that I loved you when you left, and I\u2019ve loved you every day since.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

\n

I found the note you hid. Nothing that happened was the fault of a nine-year-old girl. I won\u2019t come unless you ask me.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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I added my number and address, then prayed as I hit send.<\/p>\n

\n

She called that night.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

\n

After a long silence, she asked, \u201cDid you know where we were?\u201d<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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\u201cNo.\u201d<\/p>\n

<\/div>\n
\n

\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

<\/div>\n

<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

I spent 40 years mourning the family I believed I\u2019d lost in one terrible night. When failing health forced me…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":296,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-295","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/cookverse.delicedcook.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/295","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/cookverse.delicedcook.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/cookverse.delicedcook.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cookverse.delicedcook.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cookverse.delicedcook.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=295"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/cookverse.delicedcook.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/295\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":305,"href":"https:\/\/cookverse.delicedcook.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/295\/revisions\/305"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cookverse.delicedcook.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/296"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/cookverse.delicedcook.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=295"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cookverse.delicedcook.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=295"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cookverse.delicedcook.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=295"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}