Adult stepdaughter doesn’t want to drive (Major Rant follows)

Posted by BearFLSTS@reddit | GenX | View on Reddit | 800 comments

Am I freakin insane or what? (M) married to a wonderful but somewhat naive 62F. She has a 37 year old daughter. When we got married, I stopped the judge (married at the old church in Yesteryear village in West Palm Beach, Florida) and asked A “ I’ve asked your mother to be my wife and now I’m asking you to be my daughter”. That was 2002.

Now, it’s 2026 and A still lives with us and has no driver’s license, not even a state ID. She’s had experience driving but shows no interest in getting a license. I just asked her to please plan on spending some time behind the wheel with her mother or myself and then getting her license. She’s 37. Her mother has retired due to health issues. I’m 57 and injured from work and trying to plan ahead. We’ve got one car for the household and I’m just trying to cover contingencies. A says she do est want to try to get a license because “She needs therapy to be able to feel comfortable driving, since she hasn’t tried it for so many years”.

Fellow Gen Xer’s, I’m at a loss. I’ve been driving for over 50 years. How much therapy is needed to able to o-rate a motor vehicle in order to assist the two people who have been, quite literally, supporting you for the past 20 some odd years while you “figure out your life”???!!

I know I’m not her father. Her father never wanted to even admit she was his. I came into the picture when she was about 8. She has never accepted me as being someone important to her. I’ve tried. Long ass story that I won’t go into. I still keep trying even though I know I’m simply tilting at windmills. My hearts in pieces and has been for years. I’m not even sure why I’m writing this now. Maybe I just need to put this out there and then delete it all. I guess sometimes it hurts so much that you just have to throw it out there and let the world trample on it some more.