When I was a child, my mom used to pick my friends for me. If I happened to hang around the wrong ones, she was quick to let me know.
As an adult, we're supposedly capable of selecting our own friends and as we've seen, sometimes we pick some real losers.
Alcohol and I have been hanging around for more than 25 years. Ironically enough, I've called my mom and told her I haven't been hanging around with my long-time friend for over 50 days.
I do miss my friend and many times we'll run into each other in passing but it's just not the same. I'll nod and think to myself, alcohol has many more friends than I do so I'm sure he'll get along just fine without me.