Woman, 21, who married an ex-con and addict who's 25 YEARS older than her admits her parents have stopped speaking to her because of her romance with the former 'bad boy' - and even refused to go to the wedding

Felicia Fredrickson met her husband Adam Fredrickson, 46, when she was just 19 and he was 44
When they met at a fundraising, Adam says he had moved away from his dark past, which saw him arrested close to 150 times
He has spent 11 years in prison, and has five felonies on his record
Adam says he used to regularly party and use drugs - but insists that kind of behavior is all in the past
Felicia's parents were furious about the romance and refused to accept him
The couple decided to tie the knot in a small ceremony, which Felicia's parents said they would not attend
They are now planning to renew their vows in October, and she hopes that her parents will change their minds and attend

Published: 14:40 BST, 9 July 2020 | Updated: 14:42 BST, 9 July 2020

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A 21-year-old woman who fell in love with an ex-con who is 25 years her senior has revealed that her parents stopped speaking to her when they found out about her relationship with the former drug addict.

Felicia Fredrickson, from Minnesota, was just 19 when she met her now-husband Adam Fredrickson, who was 44 at the time.

When they first fell in love after performing together at a fundraiser, Adam was working on multiple volunteer projects for prisoners and ex-cons - having spent 11 years in jail himself, having racked up five felonies, and been arrested close to 150 times.

Controversial: 21-year-old Felicia Frederickson has revealed that her parents stopped speaking to her when she fell in love with ex-con Adam, who is 25 years her senior

Celebration: Despite their age difference, the couple, from Minnesota, quickly fell in love and decided to tie the knot just a few months after meeting

Sad: Felicia said her parents refused to attend the wedding, a decision that she admits 'hurt' her and left her disappointed

But while the former con insists that he has long since moved away from his dark past, Felicia's parents refused to accept that he had changed his ways, and they told their daughter to leave Adam, or be cast out of their family.

'My parents do not like Adam,' she confessed. 'He looked like Axl Rose [but] I loved his bandana and I was into the long hair and bandanas and leather jackets, I still am.

'He was exactly the guy my parents didn't want me to bring home. They do not like my relationship.'

The age gap was also a serious concern for her parents, and Felicia and Adam both admit that when they first met, they assumed that they couldn't date because there were so many years between them.

'We didn't start dating immediately, we had already known each other [for] about three weeks,' Adam explained. 'When I found at that she was 19, and I was 44, we thought, "We guess we'll be friends."

'Then we talked about every possible aspect of what this could be, and we were like, "Oh, we don't want to miss [out]." If this is a real thing and we miss... how devastating would that be?'

After deciding to give their relationship a go, the couple became very serious very quickly, with Adam confessing that he told Felicia early on in their romance that he 'wasn't looking for a girlfriend, he was looking for a wife'.

So, just a short while after meeting, the two decided to tie the knot - despite Felicia's parents opposing the relationship.

Looking ahead: Adam admits that he used to be a 'bad boy', explaining that he has been arrested close to 150 times in the past

Moving on: The former con has five felonies on his record, and used to regularly use drugs - something that he has been completely honest with Felicia about

Changes: Adam insists that he has moved away from his dark past, and now works to help other prisoners and convicts to work towards a better future

'When her parents said that they didn't want to be a part of it anymore, we decided that we were just going to get married,' Adam recalled.

'It was a lovely, lovely ceremony. We wrote out own vows, which we have in a jar on our dresser.'

When they wed, the initial hope was that Felicia’s parents would be there on the day but it ended up being a small ceremony with just 16 guests – and without her parents. Still, Felicia didn't let that ruin the special day for her.

'All I knew in my mind at that moment was that I wanted to be this man's wife,' she said.

'Cut and dry, I'm like, this is what I know I want. And if there are people around us that want to be there for it, then great, but all I knew at the end of the day was that I wanted to be Mrs. Fredrickson.

'[However] it did hurt that [my parents] didn't come.

'I think my parents would be thrilled [if I left Adam]. That's the first time I've thought about it and it hurts. [But] it's our relationship, it's our marriage, not theirs.'

Felicia and Adam now hope to have a second bigger ceremony in October, when they will renew their vows, and they are still hopeful that her parents will attend - although currently her mom and dad have said that they will not be there.

Serious: When Felicia and Adam first met, they decided to just be friends, because of the huge age gap between the two of them

Happy: After a few weeks, they had a serious conversation about the future of their relationship, and decided to pursue a romance

The next step: Adam confessed that he told Felicia early on in their romance that he 'wasn't looking for a girlfriend, he was looking for a wife'

'The small chance that my mom would show up [to the wedding] would be groundbreaking,' Felicia said.

'For her forgiving [me], it would mean the world to me. My mom and I used to be best friends.

'What it would mean to me if my parents would come and be there, it would mean the world, so they could meet my husband more as my husband, and my family.'

For Adam, he says it would mean everything to him to be able to show Felicia's parents that he has changed - and that their daughter is safe and happy with him.

'I can absolutely understand Felicia's parents' reservations. I am completely empathetic with her family, they have every right to be concerned, if you base your judgment only on my past,' he said.

'They know they don't like who they think I am but they don't know who I am. They don't like the Adam from 2013 and before.'

The former con says that he was completely upfront about his 'bad boy' past when he first met Felicia, explaining that he knows now that he is lucky he didn't kill himself with all of the partying and drugs that he was doing.

'My number one addiction was excitement. I'm the guy you see jumping off the house into the swimming pool,' he said of his past. 'If there was something at the party that I could put into my body that would accentuate that, then that's what I would do.

Future: Now the couple is planning to renew their vows in a big ceremony in October

Dream: Felicia hopes that her parents will come around and decide to attend the ceremony

Staying strong: 'I think my parents would be thrilled [if I left Adam], she said. 'That's the first time I've thought about it and it hurts. [But] it's our relationship, it's our marriage, not theirs'

'I've never used any drugs intravenously but I've partied and been arrested. I was a really bad boy. If I went back and did the numbers, I've probably been sentenced to between 15 and 20 years of prison, and I've actually done approximately 11 years.

'I've probably been arrested somewhere between 100 and 150 times, I can't even count the number of charges that I've been charged with. And I have five felonies on my record.

'I made the decision that this is it. My life has to change or I'm going to die in one of these rooms. I said, time to grow up, I can't live this way anymore.'

Now, Adam works with other men like himself, who have been arrested, been in jail, or are on the verge of going down the same dark path that he found himself on. He works with several different recovery programs, and also teaches an anger management course at a local prison.

'I go into the jail and I'm like, man you guys don't even know how appreciative I am to be able to come in here because I look around and I see my face,' he explained. 'I tell my story at least twice a year, I have nothing to hide.'

Felicia admits that it would be 'disappointing and hurtful' if her family chooses not to be a part of her relationship and her life, but she insists that she isn't going to to 'force them' to accept her and Adam if they don't want to support the couple.

Adam on the other hand says he would be thrilled to have the chance to reunite his wife with her parents - and prove to them once and for all that she is living the best life possible.

'I want Felicia's parents to see that their daughter is not in harm, she's happy,' he said. 'We're not just going to enjoy life, we're going to live the heck out of it.'