00:00This is 21-year-old Felicia. She fell in love with 46-year-old Adam.
00:07But their relationship has not been met warmly by everyone.
00:10My parents do not like Adam. They do not like my relationship.
00:13He was exactly the guy my parents didn't want me to bring home.
00:17And the age gap isn't the only reason her parents were concerned about the relationship.
00:23I was a really bad boy. I've partied and been arrested. I have five felonies on my record.
00:29With their vow renewal ceremony on the horizon, can these two convince those who matter to them to accept their marriage?
00:36The small chance that my mom would show up I feel would be groundbreaking.
00:47Now for to show you how to make the Swedish cookies, yeah?
00:54I'm 46 years of age.
00:56And my age is 21.
00:59When we met, Adam was 44 and I was 19.
01:02There is 25 years separating our ages.
01:05Adam and Felicia met at a local fundraiser, immediately hitting it off.
01:10But not knowing just how many years separated them in age.
01:14We didn't start dating immediately. We'd already known each other about three weeks.
01:17When I found out that she was 19 and I was 44.
01:21I was like, I guess we'll be friends.
01:23Yeah, and that's when I was like, huh.
01:26We talked about every possible aspect of this that there could be.
01:29And then we're like, we don't want to miss.
01:33You know, if this is a real thing and we miss.
01:37How devastating would that be?
01:44Yeah, I remember he sat me down on the tailgate of the truck.
01:46He's like, I'm not messing around now.
01:48He's like, if I'm spending time with you, we're spending time together.
01:51I said, I said, I'm not looking for a girlfriend.
01:55No.
02:00You got this.
02:02I said, I'm looking for a wife.
02:04Once together, the pair were inseparable.
02:06But problems arose when Felicia revealed her new love to her parents.
02:11My parents do not like Adam.
02:13He looked like Axl Rose and I loved his bandana.
02:16I was into the long hair and bandanas and leather jackets and still am.
02:21And I had just bought a motorcycle.
02:23So he was exactly the guy my parents didn't want me to bring home.
02:27When her parents said that they didn't want to be a part of it anymore,
02:30we decided that we were going to just get married.
02:34We initially chose to have a small celebration.
02:36It was a lovely, lovely ceremony.
02:38We wrote our own vows, which we have in a jar over there on the dresser.
02:41And then I was wearing a blanket because it was freezing.
02:45All I knew in my mind at that moment was I wanted to be this man's wife.
02:50I just cut and dry. I'm like, this is what I know I want.
02:53And if there are people around us that want to be there for it, great.
02:57But all I knew at the end of the day is I wanted to be Mrs. Fredrickson.
03:00But Felicia's parents chose not to attend.
03:03It did hurt that they didn't come.
03:05Now gearing up to renew their vows,
03:07the couple are hoping this time around they can convince them to come.
03:11I texted my mom because I want to include her in things I'm doing.
03:15So I didn't invite her to the first dress fitting
03:17because I assumed she didn't want to be there.
03:19The small chance that my mom would show up I feel would be groundbreaking
03:23for her forgiving.
03:26What it would mean to me would be the world, pretty much.
03:29My mom and I used to be best friends.
03:33I don't see her coming.
03:39Hi.
03:40Hi.
03:41You must be Felicia?
03:42Yes. Vicki?
03:44Yep, I have your dress right here. Jackie dropped it off.
03:46Wonderful.
03:47So let's go in and get started.
03:49I'll help you put it on.
03:55Perfect, I love it.
03:57It's gorgeous.
03:58It's perfect.
04:01It's beautiful.
04:03What would it mean to me if my parents would come and be there
04:06and mean the world so they could meet my husband more as my husband and my family.
04:11They're opposed because Adam is older than I am and he has a bit of a past
04:18and they didn't get the time to get to know him.
04:21They know they don't like who they think I am, but they don't know who I am.
04:26They don't like the rap sheet.
04:28They don't like the Adam from 2013 and before.
04:32My number one addiction was excitement.
04:35I'm the guy that you see jumping off the house into the swimming pool.
04:38If there was something at the party that I could put into my body that would accentuate that,
04:41then that's what I would do.
04:43I've never used any drugs intravenously, but I've partied and been arrested,
04:47so I was a really bad boy.
04:53If I went back and did the numbers, I've probably been sentenced to between 15 and 20 years in prison
05:00and I've actually done approximately 11 years.
05:04I've probably been arrested somewhere between 100 or 150 times.
05:08I can't even count the number of charges that I've been charged with
05:11and I have five felons on my record.
05:17I made the decision, this is it.
05:19My life has to change or I'm going to die in one of these rooms.
05:22I said, time to grow up. I can't live this way anymore.
05:25So now the volunteer work I do includes a faith-based recovery program called Celebrate Recovery.
05:31That's on Monday nights.
05:33On Wednesday nights, there's an outreach program here for guys who are on the verge of going to prison
05:38or have gotten out of prison or county jail.
05:40Thursday afternoons, I go into the Douglas County Jail and teach anger management.
05:46When I go into the jail, I'm like, man, you guys don't even know how appreciative I am
05:50to be able to come in here because I look around and I see my face.
05:54I tell my story at least twice a year. I have nothing to hide.
05:58You told me everything.
06:00But that's what builds the strong relationship is the trust and the truth and the foundation.
06:04That was important.
06:05Do you think your parents would be happy if you left them?
06:09I think my parents would be thrilled.
06:13I...
06:20That's...
06:24That's the first time I've kind of thought about it, and it hurts.
06:28It's our relationship. It's our marriage, not theirs.
06:33I can absolutely understand Felicia's parents' reservations.
06:39I completely am empathetic with her family.
06:41They have every right to be concerned if you base your judgment only on my past.
06:46What do you think would change your mind?
06:51This might change their minds.
06:53I'm hoping, yeah.
06:56I think our hopes for the future would be primarily to have Felicia's family involved with us
07:06and maybe sit on a beach somewhere in Puerto Rico.
07:13If my family does not come around, it's disappointing and it hurts.
07:20But I can't force them to do anything they don't want to.
07:23I want Felicia's parents to see that their daughter's not in harm.
07:27She's happy.
07:30We're not just going to enjoy life.
07:32I mean...
07:33We're going to live the heck out of it.
07:36I love you.
08:07She must be cheating on him.
08:09There's a lot of people that will bash us at any chance that they possibly can.
08:13It's so unbelievable that she's together with me that there's no way that she's a real woman.
08:18There's no way this could be real, so she must be in danger.
08:21You're too short and he's too big.
08:23People just don't get it.
08:24He's crazy. He lost his mind. What's wrong with him?
08:28It never deterred me one bit.
08:37Interabled relationships are beautiful.
08:41You can date somebody who's transgender and not be thought of as a weird person.
08:44I know that it looks weird from the outside, but it just makes my little puppy heart happy.
08:49Humans today, we are all judgmental.
08:52All I know is I love her and she loves me.
08:55We're just going to continue loving each other.
08:57No matter what, nothing's going to change us.
09:00The thing I love most about me is that I'm a woman.
09:04The thing I love most about Mason is how cute he is and nothing else.
09:13It doesn't matter your gender, your height, your disability.
09:17Love is love and love will conquer.
09:22F*** the haters.
09:34F*** the haters.
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