Gypsy isn't ready to accept him or his explanations of Dee Dee though, and points out that Dee Dee was there while he wasn't. He was 17 years old when they got married, he reasons. "She was a lot older. She was in the driver's seat. I was a kid," he says. Gypsy is convinced that he doesn't love her, but he says that he does and that Dee Dee kept her from him and said it was potentially medically hazardous for Gypsy to spend time with him. He does everything he can to convince her, telling her about the checks he sent, about all the ways he tried to see her. She won't budge. So he has one last move: three photos of the two of them together — one from when she was eight at the Special Olympics. Despite having been at an age when she'd remember who was with her, Gypsy is convinced Rod wasn't there, likely because of the way Dee Dee spoke about him and their time together. Gypsy does remember the flag he gave her, though, and that's the detail that finally convinces her to let him help her.