Mom\u2019s blue dress was what I wore the night Dad looked at my face and took Lily to a banquet instead. On my 38th birthday, he arrived at the door with a box of things hidden from me. Before I opened it, his words took me back to that dress and made me wonder which of us he\u2019d really kept out of sight.<\/p>\n
Dad pushed the box toward me with both trembling hands.<\/p>\n
\u201cBefore I pass away, you need to know why I treated you that way. Open this.\u201d<\/p>\n
I lifted the lid.<\/p>\n
The first thing inside Dad\u2019s box was a plastic name badge.<\/p>\n
Mine.<\/p>\n
I lifted the lid.<\/p>\n
I lifted it by the metal clip and stared at the faded lettering.<\/p>\n
EMMA GUEST OF JOHNNY<\/p>\n
Then I noticed the old hotel logo in the corner.<\/p>\n
My birthday disappeared around me.<\/p>\n
I noticed the old hotel logo.<\/p>\n
The cake on the dining table. My family in the next room. Lily standing several feet behind Dad with one hand pressed over her mouth.<\/p>\n
All I could see was Mom\u2019s blue dress.<\/p>\n
***<\/p>\n
I had been 16.<\/p>\n
All I could see was Mom\u2019s blue dress.<\/p>\n
I had stood at the bottom of our stairs wearing it, smoothing my hands over the skirt while Dad adjusted his tie near the front door.<\/p>\n
He had promised both Lily and me that we could attend his company\u2019s annual banquet.<\/p>\n
Then he\u2019d looked at me.<\/p>\n
I had stood at the bottom of our stairs wearing it.<\/p>\n
Not at the dress.<\/p>\n
At my face.<\/p>\n
At the pale patch beside my mouth that no amount of Mom\u2019s foundation had completely covered.<\/p>\n
\u201cPlans changed, Emma,\u201d he\u2019d said. \u201cI can only take one of you.\u201d<\/p>\n
Lily had gone.<\/p>\n
I had spent the evening cleaning a kitchen that wasn\u2019t dirty.<\/p>\n
\u201cI can only take one of you.\u201d<\/p>\n
***<\/p>\n
Now I looked at Dad.<\/p>\n
\u201cYou had a badge for me.\u201d<\/p>\n
His coat hung loosely from his shoulders. Cancer had carved deep lines around his mouth that hadn\u2019t existed the last time I\u2019d seen him in person.<\/p>\n
\u201cYes.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cYou had a badge for me.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cYou told me there was only one guest ticket.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cI know.\u201d<\/p>\n
I put the badge on the table and reached into the box again.<\/p>\n
Another invitation.<\/p>\n
A company dinner from the following spring.<\/p>\n
Two guest spaces.<\/p>\n
\u201cYou told me there was only one guest ticket.\u201d<\/p>\n
One had Lily\u2019s name typed neatly across it.<\/p>\n
The other said Emma.<\/p>\n
Under that was a wedding RSVP card for one of Dad\u2019s cousins.<\/p>\n
Johnny.<\/p>\n
Lily.<\/p>\n
Emma.<\/p>\n
Three seats.<\/p>\n
I looked up.<\/p>\n
\u201cYou said the car was full.\u201d<\/p>\n
The other said Emma.<\/p>\n
Dad lowered himself into the chair beside my birthday table.<\/p>\n
\u201cI lied.\u201d<\/p>\n
There were more.<\/p>\n
A Christmas dinner.<\/p>\n
A retirement party.<\/p>\n
Another banquet.<\/p>\n
Every event I remembered being excluded from had some version of my name attached to it.<\/p>\n
There were more.<\/p>\n
I had spent several years thinking Dad had never wanted me there.<\/p>\n
Apparently that wasn\u2019t true.<\/p>\n
Somehow, the truth felt worse.<\/p>\n
\u201cYou planned to take me.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cEvery time.\u201d<\/p>\n
Apparently that wasn\u2019t true.<\/p>\n
\u201cAnd then you changed your mind.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cYes,\u201d he admitted.<\/p>\n
\u201cWhy?\u201d<\/p>\n
Dad rubbed the edge of the cardboard box with one thumb.<\/p>\n
I waited.<\/p>\n
He said nothing.<\/p>\n
\u201cAnd then you changed your mind.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cDad, you came to my house crying and told me I had to know the truth before you died. So tell me.\u201d<\/p>\n
His voice came out rough.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt started before your mother died\u2026\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cI had to know the truth before you died.\u201d<\/p>\n
The front door opened, and Lily stepped inside. She stopped when she saw Dad beside me, then quietly crossed the room and sat down across from us.<\/p>\n
I turned toward her.<\/p>\n
\u201cYou knew about this?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cNo.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cYou knew about this?\u201d<\/p>\n
She answered so quickly I believed her.<\/p>\n
Dad looked toward the hallway, where my family was giving us privacy badly enough that I could hear somebody whispering beside the kitchen door.<\/p>\n
Then he looked at me.<\/p>\n
\u201cThere\u2019s somewhere I need to take you.\u201d<\/p>\n
I believed her.<\/p>\n
I almost laughed.<\/p>\n
\u201cOf course there is.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cEmma.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cNo. You don\u2019t get to turn this into one of your mysterious father lessons.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s not a lesson.\u201d He pushed himself carefully upright. \u201cIt\u2019s where I first failed you.\u201d<\/p>\n
That stopped me.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s where I first failed you.\u201d<\/p>\n
***<\/p>\n
Twenty minutes later, Lily was driving us downtown.<\/p>\n
Dad sat in the passenger seat.<\/p>\n
I sat behind him with the old banquet badge in my hand.<\/p>\n
None of us spoke.<\/p>\n
Lily was driving us downtown.<\/p>\n
When Lily turned onto the avenue, I recognized the building before Dad said anything.<\/p>\n
It was the five-star hotel.<\/p>\n
It had been renovated, but the wide stone steps were the same.<\/p>\n
So were the tall front windows.<\/p>\n
I hadn\u2019t been there in more than 25 years.<\/p>\n
It was the five-star hotel.<\/p>\n
\u201cI\u2019ve been here before,\u201d I said.<\/p>\n
Dad nodded.<\/p>\n
\u201cYou were 12.\u201d<\/p>\n
A memory moved at the edge of my mind.<\/p>\n
Mom fastening earrings in our hallway.<\/p>\n
Dad arguing about parking.<\/p>\n
Lily too young to come.<\/p>\n
And me standing in front of Mom\u2019s bathroom mirror.<\/p>\n
Lily too young to come.<\/p>\n
I followed Dad inside.<\/p>\n
He stopped near the entrance to the ballroom.<\/p>\n
\u201cThis used to be one of my company\u2019s client dinners,\u201d he said. \u201cYour mother came with me. So did you.\u201d<\/p>\n
I crossed my arms.<\/p>\n
\u201cAnd?\u201d<\/p>\n
I followed Dad inside.<\/p>\n
He glanced at my face, then immediately looked away.<\/p>\n
The motion was so familiar that for one ugly second, I was 16 again.<\/p>\n
\u201cDad.\u201d<\/p>\n
He nodded.<\/p>\n
\u201cThere was a man at our table. Somebody I worked with. You\u2019d just started getting more patches around your eyes and hands.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cYou\u2019d just started getting more patches.\u201d<\/p>\n
I remembered that.<\/p>\n
I also remembered Mom refusing to buy the heavy makeup I\u2019d asked for after seeing an advertisement.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s skin,\u201d she\u2019d said. \u201cIt doesn\u2019t need permission to look like skin.\u201d<\/p>\n
Dad continued.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe man leaned over during dinner and asked if what you had was contagious.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cIt doesn\u2019t need permission to look like skin.\u201d<\/p>\n
My fingers tightened around the old badge.<\/p>\n
I remembered him.<\/p>\n
Not his face.<\/p>\n
His watch.<\/p>\n
Gold.<\/p>\n
Big enough to catch the light every time he lifted his fork.<\/p>\n
\u201cWhat did you say?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cI told him it was vitiligo.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cAnd?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cI told him it was vitiligo.\u201d<\/p>\n
Dad was quiet.<\/p>\n
\u201cYou changed the subject,\u201d I said.<\/p>\n
He looked at me.<\/p>\n
I didn\u2019t remember the sentence.<\/p>\n
But I remembered the feeling.<\/p>\n
The little pause afterward.<\/p>\n
I remembered the feeling.<\/p>\n
The man\u2019s embarrassed chuckle.<\/p>\n
Dad immediately asking him about work.<\/p>\n
Mom\u2019s hand finding mine under the table.<\/p>\n
I had spent years forgetting the details while keeping the humiliation.<\/p>\n
\u201cYou changed the subject,\u201d I repeated.<\/p>\n
\u201cYes.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cYou changed the subject.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cDid you tell him he was rude?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cNo.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cDid you tell him not to talk about your daughter like I wasn\u2019t sitting there?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cNo.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cDid you say anything?\u201d<\/p>\n
Dad shook his head.<\/p>\n
\u201cNo.\u201d<\/p>\n
Lily stared at him.<\/p>\n
\u201cDad\u2026\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cI know.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cDid you tell him he was rude?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cNo,\u201d I said. \u201cYou don\u2019t get to say that yet.\u201d<\/p>\n
He nodded once.<\/p>\n
Then he walked slowly toward a bench near the ballroom doors and sat.<\/p>\n
\u201cYour mother tore into me when we got home.\u201d<\/p>\n
That sounded like Mom.<\/p>\n
I could almost hear her.<\/p>\n
That sounded like Mom.<\/p>\n
Dad looked toward the ballroom.<\/p>\n
\u201cShe asked why I\u2019d been more worried about making a client uncomfortable than protecting you.\u201d<\/p>\n
My throat felt hot.<\/p>\n
\u201cWhat did you tell her?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cThat I didn\u2019t want to create a scene.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cWhat did you tell her?\u201d<\/p>\n
Of course.<\/p>\n
Dad had always hated scenes.<\/p>\n
Mom used to say he would rather quietly move a burning chair than ask who started the fire.<\/p>\n
Dad looked toward the ballroom.<\/p>\n
\u201cYour mother told me, \u2018She shouldn\u2019t have to leave a room because somebody else doesn\u2019t know how to behave.’\u201d<\/p>\n
Dad had always hated scenes.<\/p>\n
I said nothing.<\/p>\n
\u201cThen she said, \u2018Next time, stand beside your daughter.’\u201d<\/p>\n
The old badge suddenly felt heavier in my hand.<\/p>\n
\u201cA few months later, your mother got sick,\u201d Dad continued.<\/p>\n
Twenty-five years disappeared from his face.<\/p>\n
\u201cNext time, stand beside your daughter.\u201d<\/p>\n
For a moment he looked exactly like the man who used to stand beside Mom\u2019s hospital bed pretending he understood every word the doctors said.<\/p>\n
\u201cWhen she died,\u201d he said, \u201cI kept thinking about that night here.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cWhy?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cI kept thinking about that night here.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cBecause I\u2019d failed you.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cSo you decided to keep failing me?\u201d<\/p>\n
Lily whispered my name.<\/p>\n
I ignored her.<\/p>\n
Dad didn\u2019t defend himself.<\/p>\n
\u201cThat\u2019s about right.\u201d<\/p>\n
I hadn\u2019t expected that.<\/p>\n
I ignored her.<\/p>\n
He rubbed both hands over his knees.<\/p>\n
\u201cFor the company dinner when you were 16, I put your name on the guest list. I meant to take you.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cThe badge.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cYes.\u201d<\/p>\n
I looked down at it.<\/p>\n
\u201cI meant to take you.\u201d<\/p>\n
Dad said, \u201cThen two days before the dinner, I heard two people at work talking about a woman with vitiligo they\u2019d seen somewhere.\u201d<\/p>\n
I felt my back straighten.<\/p>\n
\u201cWhat did they say?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cIt doesn\u2019t matter.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cWhat did they say?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cIt mattered enough to leave me home.\u201d<\/p>\n
Dad nodded.<\/p>\n
\u201cYou\u2019re right.\u201d He swallowed. \u201cThey were making jokes.\u201d<\/p>\n
Lily muttered something under her breath.<\/p>\n
\u201cThey were making jokes.\u201d<\/p>\n
Dad went on.<\/p>\n
\u201cI remember thinking, what happens if I take Emma and somebody says something? What if they stare? What if somebody asks another question?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cAnd what if you freeze again?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cWhat if they stare?\u201d<\/p>\n
Dad looked at me.<\/p>\n
There it was.<\/p>\n
Not disgust.<\/p>\n
Not embarrassment.<\/p>\n
Fear.<\/p>\n
But not fear for me alone.<\/p>\n
Dad was afraid of himself.<\/p>\n
Dad was afraid of himself.<\/p>\n
\u201cI told myself I was protecting you,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
\u201cFrom what?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cFrom people who made me afraid I\u2019d fail you again.\u201d<\/p>\n
He paused.<\/p>\n
Then added, quieter, \u201cI was protecting myself too.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cI told myself I was protecting you.\u201d<\/p>\n
I walked away from him.<\/p>\n
For years, I\u2019d imagined Dad arriving at all those dinners proud to have Lily beside him and relieved not to have me.<\/p>\n
The truth was stranger.<\/p>\n
The truth was stranger.<\/p>\n
He had put my name down.<\/p>\n
He had imagined taking me.<\/p>\n
Then fear had arrived.<\/p>\n
And every time, Dad removed the one person whose presence forced him to find out whether he could finally be brave.<\/p>\n
Me.<\/p>\n
He had imagined taking me.<\/p>\n
***<\/p>\n
I turned around.<\/p>\n
\u201cSo Mom told you to stand beside me, and your solution was to stop taking me anywhere?\u201d<\/p>\n
Dad didn\u2019t answer.<\/p>\n
Lily sat beside him now, looking almost as furious as I felt.<\/p>\n
I pointed at her.<\/p>\n
\u201cWhy Lily?\u201d<\/p>\n
Dad didn\u2019t answer.<\/p>\n
Dad\u2019s answer came immediately.<\/p>\n
\u201cPeople didn\u2019t make comments about Lily.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cSo I was the problem you removed?\u201d I asked.<\/p>\n
\u201cNo.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cThat\u2019s what you did.\u201d<\/p>\n
Dad nodded.<\/p>\n
\u201cYes.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cPeople didn\u2019t make comments about Lily.\u201d<\/p>\n
Lily suddenly stood.<\/p>\n
\u201cDid you tell me Emma didn\u2019t want to come?\u201d<\/p>\n
Dad closed his eyes.<\/p>\n
\u201cLily\u2026\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cDid you?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cSometimes.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cDid you?\u201d<\/p>\n
She looked at me.<\/p>\n
\u201cWhen I was little, I\u2019d ask why you weren\u2019t coming. He\u2019d say you hated those events.\u201d<\/p>\n
I stared at her.<\/p>\n
\u201cYou believed him?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cI was nine, Emma.\u201d<\/p>\n
That shut me up.<\/p>\n
\u201cYou believed him?\u201d<\/p>\n
Lily rubbed her palms against her skirt.<\/p>\n
\u201cAnd then you started saying you didn\u2019t care.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cI got tired of caring.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cI know that now.\u201d She looked down. \u201cDo you remember how I used to bring you dessert?\u201d<\/p>\n
Of course I did.<\/p>\n
\u201cI got tired of caring.\u201d<\/p>\n
Slices of cake wrapped in napkins.<\/p>\n
Cookies in little plastic bags.<\/p>\n
Once an entire chocolate mousse cup that had leaked inside Lily\u2019s purse.<\/p>\n
I had hated those gifts.<\/p>\n
They felt like crumbs from rooms where I wasn\u2019t welcome.<\/p>\n
I had hated those gifts.<\/p>\n
\u201cI thought you pitied me.\u201d<\/p>\n
Lily stared.<\/p>\n
\u201cWhat?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cThe desserts.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cNo, Emma, no\u2026\u201d<\/p>\n
She looked genuinely horrified.<\/p>\n
\u201cDad said you didn\u2019t like the parties. I thought you still liked dessert.\u201d<\/p>\n
She looked genuinely horrified.<\/p>\n
I remembered the chocolate mousse leaking through the bottom of Lily\u2019s purse.<\/p>\n
That ridiculous mousse cup.<\/p>\n
Lily smiled for half a second, then looked at Dad again.<\/p>\n
\u201cYou know what else you used to say?\u201d<\/p>\n
Dad waited.<\/p>\n
\u201cYou know what else you used to say?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201c\u2018My beautiful girl.\u2019 Every time you introduced me.\u201d<\/p>\n
His face crumpled.<\/p>\n
\u201cI meant it.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cI know, Dad.\u201d Lily folded her arms. \u201cBut after a while, \u2018beautiful\u2019 stopped sounding like a compliment.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cI meant it.\u201d<\/p>\n
Dad looked at her.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt started sounding like the reason I got to go and Emma didn\u2019t.\u201d<\/p>\n
No one spoke.<\/p>\n
I looked down at my banquet badge again.<\/p>\n
The hotel logo.<\/p>\n
My name.<\/p>\n
Guest of Johnny.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt started sounding like the reason I got to go and Emma didn\u2019t.\u201d<\/p>\n
Then another memory surfaced.<\/p>\n
Mom\u2019s blue dress.<\/p>\n
Dad standing at the door.<\/p>\n
His eyes moving over me.<\/p>\n
Plans changed.<\/p>\n
His eyes moving over me.<\/p>\n
My stomach turned.<\/p>\n
I held up the badge.<\/p>\n
\u201cThis was that night, wasn\u2019t it?\u201d<\/p>\n
Dad nodded.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe blue dress.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cYes.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cThe dress Mom wore to your anniversary dinner.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cYes.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cThe blue dress.\u201d<\/p>\n
I walked closer.<\/p>\n
\u201cYou already had my badge.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cYes.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cYou already knew Mom had told you what to do.\u201d<\/p>\n
His eyes stayed on mine.<\/p>\n
\u201cYes.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cThen why did you take Lily?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cYou already knew Mom had told you what to do.\u201d<\/p>\n
Dad took a long time before answering.<\/p>\n
\u201cBecause you came down those stairs looking so much like your mother that for one second I could hear her telling me to stand beside you.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cI could hear her telling me to stand beside you.\u201d<\/p>\n
His voice cracked, but he kept going.<\/p>\n
\u201cAnd I realized I finally had another chance.\u201d<\/p>\n
I waited.<\/p>\n
He looked at the floor.<\/p>\n
\u201cAnd I panicked.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cI realized I finally had another chance.\u201d<\/p>\n
At least now I understood what he\u2019d chosen.<\/p>\n
Not forgiveness.<\/p>\n
Nothing close to it.<\/p>\n
Just clarity.<\/p>\n
For years, I\u2019d pictured my father seeing my skin and deciding I wasn\u2019t pretty enough to bring into the world.<\/p>\n
I understood what he\u2019d chosen.<\/p>\n
The truth was that he\u2019d seen exactly what he needed to do.<\/p>\n
And he had chosen fear instead.<\/p>\n
Again.<\/p>\n
And again.<\/p>\n
And again.<\/p>\n
He had chosen fear.<\/p>\n
***<\/p>\n
I placed the badge in his hand.<\/p>\n
\u201cYou were so afraid somebody else might make me feel ugly that you became the one who did.\u201d<\/p>\n
Dad stared at the badge in his palm.<\/p>\n
\u201cI loved you,\u201d he said. \u201cAnd I behaved like I was ashamed of you.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cI loved you.\u201d<\/p>\n
I didn\u2019t answer.<\/p>\n
\u201cYou didn\u2019t misunderstand what I did, Emma. I just let you misunderstand why.\u201d<\/p>\n
That mattered.<\/p>\n
It didn\u2019t repair anything.<\/p>\n
\u201cWhy keep all this?\u201d I asked.<\/p>\n
\u201cI just let you misunderstand why.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cAt first, because I hated myself every time I came home without you.\u201d He looked into the box. \u201cLater, throwing it away felt too much like pretending it never happened.\u201d<\/p>\n
He didn\u2019t ask me to forgive him.<\/p>\n
\u201cI hated myself every time I came home without you.\u201d<\/p>\n
That helped more than I expected.<\/p>\n
When we returned to my house, Dad stopped on the porch while Lily went inside.<\/p>\n
He looked past me at the birthday decorations.<\/p>\n
\u201cDo you want me to come back in?\u201d<\/p>\n
That helped more than I expected.<\/p>\n
Several years earlier, he\u2019d decided I was the one who stayed home.<\/p>\n
This time, the door belonged to me.<\/p>\n
\u201cFor cake,\u201d I said.<\/p>\n
\u201cOkay.\u201d<\/p>\n
Later, somebody shouted, \u201cBirthday picture!\u201d<\/p>\n
This time, the door belonged to me.<\/p>\n
Dad stayed near the wall.<\/p>\n
I looked at him.<\/p>\n
\u201cDad? If you\u2019re going to be in it, come stand in it.\u201d<\/p>\n
He hesitated. Then he moved beside me, started to put his arm around my shoulders, then stopped.<\/p>\n
\u201cIs this okay?\u201d<\/p>\n
Dad stayed near the wall.<\/p>\n
I nodded.<\/p>\n
The camera flashed.<\/p>\n
When we checked the picture, Lily was laughing, Dad\u2019s eyes were closed, frosting marked my sleeve, and every pale patch on my face showed clearly.<\/p>\n
The camera flashed.<\/p>\n
Dad squinted at it.<\/p>\n
\u201cTake another one.\u201d<\/p>\n
I looked again.<\/p>\n
\u201cNo.\u201d<\/p>\n
I handed the phone back.<\/p>\n
\u201cKeep this one.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cTake another one.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Mom\u2019s blue dress was what I wore the night Dad looked at my face and took Lily to a banquet instead. On my 38th birthday,<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":1563,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[3],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-1562","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-viral-articles"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/fliqora.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1562","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/fliqora.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/fliqora.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/fliqora.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/fliqora.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=1562"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/fliqora.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1562\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":1564,"href":"https:\/\/fliqora.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1562\/revisions\/1564"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/fliqora.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/1563"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/fliqora.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=1562"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/fliqora.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=1562"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/fliqora.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=1562"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}