Ahhhhh. I have a maniac group of friends, many more than I've ever had. Most of my life was small group or alone and I've always liked it that way.
But I sobered up in AA and every time I go to a meeting I find a person or two that I really like. After 30 years it's now a big number :) It's a kind of tough way to get to be one of the popular kids.....
Good for you man, sobriety isn't easy! Having a thing like that helps, even if it's for different reasons. I have neighbors and people nearby that are acquaintances but definite friends, only one maybe. Some other factors play into it but I think one of the hardest ones is around here work is so far away that people can't connect locally like that. I was driving 40 miles 1 way to get to work and no one lives in our area lol so that among others things is one of my biggest challenges that I think we are going to fix soon.