All the best to you on your journey. As someone who also had to walk away from the booze (almost nine years now) I want to reassure you that it can be done. At first it sucks, and you do have to really control your environment. Even the first few times I went out after quitting it felt like I wasn't getting the punch line of a joke or something, just really akward. But after a while you become more comfortable with yourself and the allure of getting all hammered starts to fade. Plus no one ever misses the hangovers, blackouts, hospitalizations, etc. Good luck and PM me if you need a friend.