I was in therapy for 30 years because of the first 10 years of my life. I don't find it odd that your ex-girlfriend cannot give up what she has known as family for 28 years to take a chance on someone she hasn't known for 28 years. I complained to my therapist once about my husband's habits and her reply was, "How long have you known him?. . .And how long did his mother/ex-wife know him?" She can't just "turn it off", that's 28 years of her life and you're asking her to do/be something completely different?

I was 39 when I married and changed my last name to my husband's just because my STEPMOTHER expected me to (not even a blood relative :-)