Welcome to SR Mirage -
By now you probably already know that many of us are just like you, perhaps just a few years, days, or hours ahead .. but we are all just one drink away from being back where we came from. I'm only 8 months ahead of you.
Giving up drinking was hard, but then learning how to live sober was the harder part for me.
Yes, it is a lot of work, but I have found that work quite rewarding. I too was a "night time after the kids went to bed" drinker (mostly) and also was embarassed and ashamed initially. My sponsor always laughs at how I used a fake name for my first few meetings and it took him a while to start calling me by my real name.
But now, when I am able to wake up each day feeling good, use my new life-tools that I learned to manage situations and stress that I couldn't before, and think of others before myself, it has been amazingly freeing.
I use the concept of Alcohol as an allergy to get over my shame. I don't think people with peanut allergies are going around feeling ashamed, they just aren't eating peanuts. And I too have learned that while the alcohol didn't close off my airpipe, it was closing off my life - albeit more slowly.
Being sober gives you a chance to work on the root causes of the problem. Don't let anyone tell you that it is easy, but by putting in the work, the rewards are amazing. I still feel the pull of "my old life" sometimes but when I compare it to my life now, I don't know why it took me so long to see it.
I am a newbie in most regards and I already am so grateful for the people around me who have supported me thus far.
Reach out and talk to people if you have the urge to drink. You have people who care about you.