I don't get abstinence. I was once an alcoholic (always an alcoholic?), drank every day, often to the point of blacking out. That was in the early 2000s. I went through rehab a couple of times, AA more times than I want to remember. Now, I might have a drink on 4 of 7 days. And that drink is nursed. I forget it's there. I only get a very slight buzz. I no longer call myself an alcoholic, because I do not like those days that I was. But alcoholics seem to hear my story and still call me one, which is not fair. I'm a normal, not-every-day drinker, and I don't think I deserve being called an alcoholic anymore.