Originally Posted by
LadyBlue0527 
Realistically, I also very much used them so that I would have someone to hang out with and drink with where there was no limit to how many I wanted.
This was the glue that held several of my "closest" relationships together. Those relationships didn't last long once I quit and made that fact known. I did miss the good times with them, but it was all about drinking together, not being together. I accept that our paths have diverged, there is no longer any judgment in this change, it just is.