After years of avoiding the task, I am now a licensed driver! At the age of 27, I finally have a freedom I didn’t realize I was missing out on.
Here is the story. My mother is a strong believer in reincarnation. She swears that in a past life that she died in a car accident. Ever since she can remember, most of her dreams involved vivid car accidents. When all the kids my age were practicing, she refused to let me drive.
Then I was in a bad car accident at 16 (on Mother’s Day of all days) which scared me shitless. I was not the driver, but it definitely made me scared to get behind the wheel. The fear lingered for many years and since I began working with my husband, I didn’t need to drive myself to work.
When we both found better jobs, I walked to my new job and found rides when I needed them. All the while, scared to operate a vehicle.
In September, my husband and I moved out of state and I realized how confined I was without my license. I started practicing and overcoming my fears.
I can’t believe that I didn’t do this sooner! I don’t think I was this proud when I graduated high school with honors. I feel so free and able to see the world without having to hold someone’s hand, metaphorically.
Does anyone else have a story in which they overcame a fear and now feel liberated and free?
No, but I can still imagine how you must feel - you have every right to be very proud of yourself. Congratulations. That’s an awesome accoplishment!
That’s fantastic. Overcoming fears is one of the hardest things there is. Congrats!
Thank you for the support! I am a brand new woman. I’ve already purchased a hula girl for the dashboard named Lola. 
My mother started taking driving lessons countless times only to quit after the first lesson each time paralyzed with fear. She never did get a license.
How sad. TBH, I always thought I would end up the same way. I had attempted learning more times than I could count, but determination overpowered my fear.
Congrats! And remember, don’t text and drive!!!
My husband’s youngest brother has some developmental issues, and he was in his 40s when he finally got his license. I doubt that he drives more than 5 miles from home, but it made such a difference - no more bicycling to work in the middle of the night (he was hit by a car at least once.) Weather is no longer a major problem. And, of course, it’s freed up everyone else who drove him around.
Congrats! My mom didn’t learn to drive until well into her 50’s. After that she was always out doing something. Have fun!
Thanks! I won’t even acknowledge my phone has rung. Whenever I’m safely parked is when I check it.
I initially got my license so that I could find a job in order to meet new people. My husband called me to say we may be moving again. Therefore, I will be out having fun! It sounds dorky, but my first trip alone will be taking my dog for an ice cream cone. The second will be going to the public library.
Congrats!
Yeah, I remember when I first got mine and there were days when my friends and I would just cruise around town just because. It was great.
My grandma didn’t learn until she was in her 70’s because my grandpa drove all the time and took her to work and picked her up. Then he died and she decided to learn. In the beginning she was always commenting on that she wished she had learned earlier in her life because of the freedom she could have had.
On the phone thing I don’t answer mine either. I refuse to get a bluetooth and I recently got a new car where I could hook the phone up to it and just talk into the air but I’m not doing that either. I don’t need the distraction. I’ll call you back when I get to where I’m going.
I didn’t get my license until I was 25 and ended up in a place with no public transportation and a wretched taxi service. A friend of mine told me that when I got my license I would feel like a bird that had been set free from its cage and I did!
Congratulations!
I was holding out for one whose boobs lit up with the turn signals, but I couldn’t find one. I ended up getting a Buddy Christ idol for my dashboard.
I want this! 
Thanks again to everyone for the congrats. It does make me feel good to read the stories about others that have waited to get their license.
For a long time, I was embarrassed when I would tell others. They would act so shocked and immediately ask me 50 questions as to why I wasn’t a driver. And I didn’t want to flat out say I was scared too. It’s nice to finally be honest about it.
Congratulations! I got my licence and my car a little over two years ago, at an age over thirty-five.
I do enjoy the freedom of being a driver, but also do keep taking public transit when I can. That’s the best of both worlds. (Except for the insurance bills and price of gas, but what can you do?)
Congratulations. I got my licence about two months after my 16th birthday. I’d wanted to drive FOREVER and couldn’t wait.
Congrats! My mom wouldn’t let me get a license when I lived at home, because of fear and because she didn’t want to pay higher insurance rates. I got mine when I was 20 and it was a great feeling. 
Good for you! I don’t have a similar story, but I sure do remember how great it felt at 16 to get my licence! That and high school graduation were high points for personal emancipation. Of course, I won’t say they were the happiest days of my life, at least not without mentioning my wedding day, in case my wife reads this post. 
Thanks everyone! It’s so nice to read all the kind words and hear everyone’s stories.
I do. It got me kicked out of Walmart, though.
Congrats on the DL! Dial back on the fun-o-meter, though. If you go for ice cream on your first solo drive, the rest will all be anti-climatic!
LOL, Doc! I will keep that in mind!