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For any kid, there is no day more momentous and unique than the day of their birth, especially the 13th one, which is a signal of growing into a teenager. It ought to be a delightfully joyful occasion for all, unfortunately for Kelsey Frederick, an Ohio girl, her life as a newly turned teenager took a turn for the worse, all thanks to her dad…
Kelsey Frederick was going to be 13 sooner. She felt like this birthday had taken a whole lifetime to get there and she was even counting down the seconds until she finally became a teenager. Kelsey had gladly searched for good party ideas on the internet with her friends, and she was really eager for her two upcoming birthday parties, one with each parent.
Kelsey’s parents, Schaffen and Christin, got divorced when she was very young. But she was lucky that her parents were still friends and they could always reach an agreement on how to parent their daughter. Their divorce contract stated that both mom and dad had an equal amount of time with Kelsey, and her parents tried hard to keep Kelsey’s life as similar as possible to how it was before they split up.
With a different parent for each weekend, this soon-to-be-teen girl never felt bored. Kelsey really enjoys playing baseball games with her dad Schaffen, and in the meantime, Christin, her mom, is basically her best friend. Whenever she got troubled, Kelsey could turn to Christin, to whom she could talk about anything. What an enviable Mother-Daughter relationship!
Shortly after divorcing, Kelsey’s dad Schaffen married a colleague of his at the fire station. As long as Schaffen’s new wife or their relationship did not interfere with the way he and Christin agreed to parent their daughter, it wasn’t a big deal for this family at all. In fact, Kelsey was happy that her dad had found his new love, and she liked her step-mother a lot.
In order to keep their promise to raise their daughter together, Schaffen and Christin still lived in Fostoria, Ohio even after their divorce. Thanks to being at close quarters, both of them got a chance to celebrate Kelsey’s birthday in time. But if Christin had known what was going to happen after she sent her daughter to Schaffen’s, she would have moved early, at any rate.
It took a lot of thinking for Christin to choose a suitable present for Kelsey, who was not your typical kind of teen girl - she was never a fan of glitz and anything pinky or sparkly was the last thing she wanted. This sporty gal loved softball and fishing, but she was already equipped with everything required. What would she like?
Since her 13th birthday was the first significant milestone in Kelsey’s life, Christin wanted everything best for her little sweetie. Considering that Kelsey was about to take her first steps into her teenage years, Christin decided to allow her daughter to pick what she liked herself, as long as it was affordable.
However, to Christin’s surprise, Kelsey asked nothing but to get highlights. The mom worried a bit that her daughter was not confident with the way she looked, but she felt relieved as she knew Kelsey always loved makeup and maybe Kelsey was simply influenced by herself, who had been getting highlights long before Kelsey was even born. There was no real need to worry at all!
Christin took Kelsey to the salon, where she decided to enjoy some mother-daughter time with her little girl. To let Kelsey experience a memorable birthday by getting a royal treatment, they ended up getting matching manicures and pedicures. And after spending a long yet relaxing day together, it was time to let Kelsey see how she looked after getting the highlights she had dreamed for a while…
Wow! Kelsey’s hair was not dark anymore, and even Christin could hardly recognize her! Kelsey couldn’t wait to show off her new hairstyle to her dad, and Christin was also eager to send their pretty darling over to Schaffen, to let him see the beautiful smile on her face after getting a birthday highlight. At that time, neither of them knew how Schaffen would react to it…
When Kelsey finally returned to her mom’s after spending the weekend with Schaffen, Christin didn’t even realize the girl ringing the doorbell was actually her daughter. Kelsey’s face was swollen and puffy from crying, and what’s more, the expensive highlights were gone as well as her beautiful long locks!
After seeing how devasted Kelsey was with the ugly boyish haircut she had been given, Christin was mad beyond belief. How could her father do such an unforgivable thing to their sweet daughter on her birthday? She drove angrily to Schaffen’s house, where she demanded to know why he cut all her hair off…
She got a quite simple reply from Schaffen, “actions have consequences.” Obviously, Kelsey’s dad and step-mother thought the highlights weren’t suitable for her age, so that they punished her for it. Their indifference infuriated Christin, so she decided to give Schaffen a taste of the humiliation as well. She posted the pictures of Kelsey’s hair on her Facebook, and then went to the police.
Christin just wanted her family and friends to validate that Schaffen had behaved unreasonably, but the number of people who paid attention to this matter was beyond her imagination. The post went viral, being shared more than 25,000 times and garnering over 2,000 comments. The story became a focus of national outrage.
Thousands of supporters consoled and encouraged Christin and Kelsey for such a “ridiculous” and “disgusting” decision by the father. Schaffen was labeled as cruel and brutal, and some of them described the haircut as child abuse. People even assumed that he used their daughter in a twisted and wrongful way to bitterly get back at his ex-wife. However, for Kelsey, the attention was a little too much. After all, she was only 13 years old.
Moved by strangers’ kindness, Christin thanked everyone for their encouragement making Kelsey better, and she began to update her page with events and other things happening in her daughter’s life. People could see the young girl start to do things she enjoyed like softball or fishing again, plus she no longer hid her face - What a strong girl! How about Kelsey’s father and step-mother?
Well, Schaffen and his new wife did pay the price for their actions that caused such deep emotional pain to the little girl. They were under investigation by the Haskins Police Department and Wood County Children’s Services, and had been put on leave from their firefighting jobs. And something was waiting for them more than just losing their jobs…
Schaffen also lost his daughter as the authorities granted Christin full custody of Kelsey. “After 5 hours of testimony and ‘evidence’ provided by both parties, the magistrate’s decision was for Kelsey to live with mom and her siblings!” Christin said on her Facebook. “A huge weight has been lifted off of everyone’s shoulders and we cannot be any happier!” Even so, Kelsey still had to make a sacrifice.
Kelsey didn’t want anything to do with her father anymore, which meant she had to surrender the belongings left at Schaffen’s house. Kelsey’s godmother set up a GoFundMe account to fund her recovery from the trauma she had experienced, which raised triple its target by the help of a generous audience. What should they do with these donations?
It was not difficult to find an answer. Christin and Kelsey enjoyed an afternoon at a local salon, where the staff helped her pick out a wig that made Kelsey feel more like herself and brought back her confidence. Mom’s happy girl was back again!
The happily ever after of this story warmed the hearts of everyone who had kept up with it, and the post Christin sent to express her gratitude and show off her pretty daughter went viral again. Who would have thought that the painful ordeal could arouse that much generosity and sympathy in other people?
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