I absolutely did that AwkwardKitty. My trouble with alcohol started in my late 20s early 30s. But........... I also knew people who quit in their 50s so I too figured I had plenty of time.
The best I can tell you is this. If I could go back to that point, knowing what I know now, it would have given me the necessary strength that I needed to quit. I'm not even talking about the disastrous events that unfolded.
I'm referring to the awakening of how many years I wasted allowing a liquid to cause me to believe that life would be so empty without it. When...on the contrary, it was that liquid that kept me from living life the way it's meant to be lived. It kept me from experiencing happiness the way it's meant to be felt. Not some watered down version (pun intended) of what I thought feeling happy meant.
I can't change what I've lost nor will I dwell on it because that's just another way the AV tries to rope you back in. What I can do is revel in what I've now found and live every moment to the fullest instead of living the lie. Life is like a penny, it's all in who you decide to let spend it. As long as you drink it's the AV who has the reigns.
Congratulations on 11 days!