Some stories have happy endings: The boy gets the girl. Some stories have sad endings: The boy doesn't get the girl. But the saddest stories of all may be the ones that have no ending at all.

To understand this tale, you have to understand how Jessie grew up.

She says: "I was very poor. My dad was an alcoholic and my mom worked two factory jobs to keep a roof over our heads. We moved around a lot. A new school almost every year, no close friends, mismatched hand-me-down clothes, cardboard in my shoes. There was no love in our home, just abuse. I grew up with low self-esteem and little-to-no confidence."

Jessie graduated high school. College was out of the question. In her poor Chicago neighborhood, the kids got married right out of school. Jessie dated, but there was no one special — until she met Randy.

She says: "He swept me off my feet. He came from a family that was considered wealthy. He told me how much he loved me and wanted to take me away from everything I'd been through. It was like a fairy tale. I loved him so much and couldn't believe something like this could happen to someone like me."

Within six months, they were married. A year later she was pregnant, and that's when the fairy tale came to an abrupt end. When his wife was eight months pregnant, Randy left Jessie for an old girlfriend.

Jessie says: "I was devastated, I couldn't believe someone could do that, I just wanted to end it. I had no job, no money in the bank, and needed a place to live. I had no family I could turn to. I lost the little self-esteem I had."

After she had the baby, Jessie got a low-paying job and struggled to keep food on the table and a roof over their heads. One night when she was out with girlfriends, she met Jim. They danced and talked.

She says: "It was like we had known each other for the longest time. He asked me out and I accepted. He had no idea how poor I was. My daughter and I lived in a mouse-riddled dump. I didn't have a good winter coat. I didn't own any good clothes. Everything I wore to go out I borrowed. I just could not tell him the truth."

Jessie remembers their first date "like it was yesterday." She says: "We went to a French restaurant. It was so fancy, every time you took a sip of water the waiter at the end of the table filled your glass."

Jessie and Jim continued to date. He was crazy about her and took her to meet his parents.

She says: "They lived in a fancy suburb. Their home was beautiful, the most magnificent thing I'd ever seen. It had double doors. It was late and his parents didn't want him to drive me home. They said I could stay in his old room. Everything was so beautiful. Everything matched. It was like something in a magazine. His old room was gray, white, and black. That night, as I stayed there, I wondered what I was doing with him."

And the rest of the story is coming next week ...

Got a problem? Send it to [email protected]. And check out my ebooks, "Dear Cheryl: Advice from Tales from the Front" and "I'll Call You. Not.