The Diary of Joy

Unexpected Invitation

5. Joy, the year of the Phoenix

Dear Angel,

Today was the strangest day of them all, and I am not sure what to think about today's events. I am starting to wonder if I am imagining things or if these strange events are real.

If it's all just a part of a strange reality, I wasn't sure what to think about it, what it all meant for us, for our future.

I am sorry, I am getting ahead of myself. Let me start from the beginning.

Yesterday was just a regular day in our house. We didn't expect anything unusual to happen. We just wanted to enjoy our everyday lives.

But, our daily schedule was interrupted by an unexpected knock on the door.

Since I was the closest one to the door, I flew off to open it.

What I received looked like regular mail, but once we opened it, we realized it was so much more than that.

It said:

"Our dearest grandchildren,

We hereby cordially invite you to join us for a meal at our residence.

Joy, Mischief, Peace, and Chatterbox, we eagerly await your arrival.

Respectfully,

Your grandparents"

Even though the invitation was impersonal and too formal for family, we all knew it was a big deal. Our grandparents were improving.

Still, after the first burst of happiness, after mom read the invitation, I felt a wave of sadness wash over me.

You see, although all of my siblings were invited, were acknowledged, they did something horrible, something unforgivable. They left out their daughter from the invitation.

Well, they left out dad, as well, but that part is easier for me to understand. After all, they don't know him at all, but how could they not invite mom?

I am always trying to be nice and see good in people, but this time, after I fully understood the invitation, I couldn't help but wonder what kind of people did that.

Would I want to call those people my family?

The fact that mom couldn't contain her tears, even though she tried her best, made it even worse for me.

How dare day make my mother cry? Who do they think they are?

They might have given birth to her, but they have proven themselves not to be true parents. Real parents are like mom and dad, they accept and love all their children equally, no matter how different they are from them.

"Mom, we don't have to go," I said.

While trying to subtly brush away her tears, she smiled at me, and that loving smile broke my heart.

Although she was going through such a devastating blow she did her best to keep it together, for us, so that we wouldn't feel bad, so that we could get a chance she never got, to be accepted.

"No, my dear. You don't have to go, but I think you should." She said.

Upon seeing my shocked expression, she approached me and started stroking my hair.

"My dear, they have invited all of your siblings. Isn't that what you've always wanted?" She asked.

"I've always wanted them to accept all of us, as a family. There is no mention of you anywhere. We shouldn't go either." I said.

"But I want to go." Chatterbox contradicted me.

"I think you should all go. Your grandparents are changing, they just need a bit more help to do it. You, my children, are just whom they need to complete their transformation, to be more accepting." Mom said with a trembling voice.

I still looked at her doubtfully. I couldn't believe that she was okay with what was happening.

"Listen, maybe them accepting you is a sign that soon enough, they will accept our whole family.

Besides, having two sets of grandparents must be better than only having one. Don't you think so?" Mom said.

My siblings nodded their heads in agreement, and I felt I had no choice but to play along. I wasn't okay with the whole situation, but I didn't want to go against the wishes of my family either.

"Okay, we'll go, but I am surprised that they even invited me after what happened the last time we saw each other," I said.

"Maybe you've made them see reason with your words," Dad said.

Mom looked at him critically, trying to convey with her eyes that he shouldn't condone bad behavior.

"Or maybe, they simply realized that they wanted to get to know their grandchildren." Mom said.

I made a smart decision to not saying anything. I just nodded my head in agreement.

Soon enough, my siblings were running around the house, getting ready, trying to look as presentable as possible. That's when I realized that I was wrong. All this time, when I thought they were okay with being ignored by our grandparents, that they didn't care, it wasn't true.

I guess they were just good at pretending.

Whether we like it or not, all of us do that. We pretend, for one reason or the other, and sometimes I wish we could not do so.

Finally, after trying so many outfits that my head was spinning, my siblings got ready, and we went to our fairy grandparents' house.

To say that our first encounter was awkward would be putting it mildly.

They were still angry with me for how I acted, and they had no idea how to behave towards my brothers and sister after shaking their hands.

I could see in their eyes, that besides confusion, there was revulsion, and yet they tried to go past it.

Not surprisingly, their attempts were clumsy and strange.

They tried to change their size to make it more comfortable for my siblings but ended up doing something wrong and spending the whole night changing between being big and small, in turn.

Honestly, it was ridiculous. If it weren't so painfully uncomfortable, it would have been hilarious.

Even though everyone would have rolled on the ground laughing, my siblings managed to stay serious and respectful, even Mischief. I guess that goes to show me how much they wanted, no, needed the approval of our grandparents.

I admire them for that because I was on the edge of hysterical laughter the whole time, but managed to keep it in.

The only reason I could contain it was my siblings.

I could see how much it meant to them to be able to spend some time with our grandparents, so my love for them kept me from exploding from laughter.

Anyways, it was a long day full of excitement, and I am still exhausted.

I know that you are curious to know more, but I can barely keep my eyes open.

I promise to tell you all about it next time.

Love, Joy