Good for you nipping this early, at 34. I waited an additional 20 years to realize alcohol was stunting my life. Like you, it was my mom's death, from cancer in 2007, that changed the tenor of my drinking, that started me down that slope. But make no mistake about it, when I finally admitted I had a problem, I wasn't drinking because of grief...I was drinking because I NEEDED IT.
Welcome, and good luck.