Hurricane Katrina

Gypsy and her father, Rod, maintained a close relationship. Even Kristy, his father’s second wife, was kind to her. But soon, Gypsy’s relationship with the father and his family became distant when Hurricane Katrina hit in 2005. Like a lot of people in New Orleans, the calamity displaced Dee Dee and Gypsy and forced them to move to an emergency special needs housing, and later to a house built for them in the Ozarks by Habitat for Humanity.

The truth might upset her

Rod saw his daughter grow up burdened by several serious ailments up until she turned 18. When he called to greet her on her 18th birthday, Dee Dee forbade him from mentioning to Gypsy her real age because Gypsy believed she was still 14. Dee Dee told Rod that learning the truth might upset her. Rod played along.