At the End of the Rainbow

By Jacqueline Hamilton

At the End of the Rainbow is for those who have been abused, rejected, raped, bullied, or neglected. It not only gives hope to those who have been abused — it gives a solution to their problems.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Jacqueline Hamilton
• Release date: May 30, 2018

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At the End of the Rainbow

JACQUELINE HAMILTON

Copyright 2018 Jacqueline Hamilton

All rights are reserved, including the right to reproduce this book or portions of it without permission.

Acknowledgments

To my friend Robert, who never answered a question without a smile on his face. Thank you for all the time you spent helping me. It meant a lot. I can’t thank you enough!!

Linda, you are so appreciated. You were always there to help me solve a computer problem. You are worth a hundred Lulus.

Michael Robert, your advice concerning the cover of my book was invaluable. Thank you so much!

This book is dedicated to my beloved grandmother, who showed me the way.

I miss you.

And to my daughter Lisa, who not only inspired me but encouraged me.

You were my moral support.

Sara lived with her mother, father, older brother, and a little dog named Rusty. In a few weeks she was going to have her sixth birthday. One would assume she would be excited about having a birthday party, the friends who would come, the presents she would open, and the games they would play. But for Sara, it would be just another day.

You see, Sara had never had a birthday party and she knew her mother, Jean, would never give her one. If only she wasn’t always doing something wrong maybe her mother would have liked her, and things would have been different.

Why didn’t her mother like her? Wasn’t there anything in her that was good? What Sara didn’t know was no matter how good she was she could never earn her mother’s love.

Sara was too young to understand. It wasn’t just her that her mother didn’t like. She didn’t like her son or her husband either — and she especially didn’t like herself.

To understand why, we have to go back in time to when Jean’s mother was expecting. She had always dreamed of having a little girl, but the baby was a boy. The next baby was another boy, and finally her third baby, Jean, was the little girl she had always dreamed of. Jean’s mother was elated. Of course, she was the favorite. Jean not only received attention from her mother, but people started noticing how intelligent Jean was and constantly commented on it. There was no doubt, she did have a brilliant mind.

Later in life when her older brother became a professor at Stanford University he remarked, I don’t know a teacher here that has half the intelligence as my sister Jean.

The Bitter Beginning

Jean’s little sister, Gwendolyn, arrived three years after Jean was born. She was breathtakingly beautiful, while Jean was average looking. Consequently, when the two sisters were together people would remark how beautiful Gwendolyn was while they would completely ignore Jean. Even Gwendolyn’s name sounded prettier.

Jean was always trying to impress people. She wanted everyone to know how smart she was. While people may have been aware of how smart she was they didn’t seem to care, though. Ironically, she wasn’t smart enough to realize that she was alienating the people around her. On the other hand, it wasn’t only Gwendolyn’s beauty that attracted people to her. She also had compassion and empathy for everyone she met — traits that Jean certainly didn’t possess.

As the years went by, Jean’s resentment toward Gwendolyn grew. For example, when Gwendolyn was still in high school, Jean felt superior to her because she was a college student. But when she came home for summer vacation, she didn’t get the respect she felt she deserved. She tried talking about the classes she was taking and how well she was doing in them. Then she would bring the conversation around to how many (make-believe) dates she always had. No matter what she talked about, she always felt that she was being ignored. The attention always reverted back to Gwendolyn.

When Jean arrived home on the next school break, she decided things would be different. Gwendolyn was getting ready to go on a date, and Jean didn’t want her to think she was staying home on a Friday night. So she decided to go to a football game at her old high school.

While at the game, Jean happened to run into Marianne, a girl she had gone to high school with. Noticing that Marianne resembled the girl she was with, Jean said, You two look so much alike you must be sisters.

The girl answered, Yes, everyone gets us mixed up. I have to constantly remind people that I’m Marianne and she’s Tracy.

Marianne then introduced Jean to Tracy by saying, Oh, by the way, this is Jean Smith. We used to go to school together.

They continued with the small talk until Tracy interrupted. Oh, my gosh, I just put the two last names together. I have a class with your sister. She’s really beautiful.

Jean responded by giving Tracy a half-smile.

Then Marianne said, Since you’re alone, would you like to sit with us and then get something to eat? It would be a perfect time to tell us all about college life.

The idea didn’t thrill Jean, However, she didn’t have anything else to do the rest of the evening, so why not? At least someone was interested in what she was doing at school. But Jean would later discover that Marianne wasn’t really interested in what Jean was doing; she only wanted to know more about college life.

After the game, Marianne and Tracy were discussing the different plays when a very handsome young man rushed up and said, I’m looking for Steve. Have you seen him? Before anyone could respond, he said, Never mind, there he is. I have to catch up with him. I’ll see you later.

Tracy yelled, Do you want to get a Coke with the gang after the game?

He turned around as he was running and shouted, Sure.

Jean remarked, The timing was perfect. In another few minutes, you would have missed him.

Tracy said, I’m surprised he said yes, because he’s pretty shy. He’s one of the most popular guys on campus, and he doesn’t even know it. It’s too bad he didn’t play tonight so you could see him in action. He’s not only the most handsome player but the best quarterback they have. I heard he’ll be back in the game next week.

Jean wondered why the most valuable player on the team wasn’t playing. She asked Tracy, Why didn’t he play?

Tracy said, He hurt his arm or leg—I don’t know which. All I know is he will be back playing next week.

She added, You should ask your sister about him. She has a crush on him, but he doesn’t seem interested in her. No one can understand why he doesn’t want to go out with her because everyone knows she’s the prettiest girl on campus.

Jean wondered how many more times she would have to hear how pretty her sister was.

Marianne, not sure if Jean was joining them, turned and asked, Are you coming along?

Jean answered, Yes. She said she knew where the coffee shop was, and as soon as she made a quick phone call, she would be there.

Earlier, she had decided against going, but she quickly changed her mind when she