Welcome Lucy -
Good to have you with us! It feels a bit strange at first to be sober when we attend all those special occasions, but after you do it a few times, it's actually quite enjoyable! I have a lot of friends who drink, too. Only one asked me why I wasn't drinking (because I kept turning down what he was offering me) and I told him I just got tired of feeling like crap the next day.
When I have to go to a party, I often get a club soda and lime (with a dash of cranberry - it's quite refreshing!). No one really knows whether I'm drinking or not. I usually leave when the social drinkers do (instead of staying for the drunkfest)...... It's really nice driving home with no worries.
I felt angry at first, too, and scared to think about never drinking again. But now that I'm sober and see all the pain caused by alcohol in society (and in my life as well), I feel good, even proud, that I'm not drinking anymore.
