Right. I never stopped abruptly and at the same time pull some epiphany out of my ass to tell the kids. I still drink on occasion, but occasions are much rarer

Right. I never stopped abruptly and at the same time pull some epiphany out of my ass to tell the kids. I still drink on occasion, but occasions are much rarer and I tend to drink less even when I drink a lot. Reason is that the good time of alcohol has shrunk, sometimes I drink a few drinks and think to myself "I don't feel any excitement" then suddenly realize I'm drunk without having experienced much pleasure but now the pain follows. Hangover is much worse, even small amounts of alcohol will give me a headache on their way out of the system. Then real hangovers last two days now, one in a state of "I don't feel like living anymore" and the second day while technically clear of alcohol (like what a blood test would say), I'm feeling very moody and edgy, definitely not my regular self. Not to mention it tends to fire up a pretty bad gastritis so I get acid reflux for days after before managing to calm it down. All in all, the body tells you "not any more".