Same. I thought it would be a bigger change, but it turns out I only need 5-6 apps from the Play store, and 3 need Google Play services. I only need those periodically, so I leave them in a separate profile.

My main profile has a bunch of F-Droid apps and a few manually side-loaded that update themselves. It's pretty nice! I have also disabled most permissions on most apps, far more than stock Android lets me do (esp. sensors permission).

It's pretty much what I want from Android. There are a handful of things I wish it did (I like shaking the phone on my Moto to get the flashlight), but all in all it's what I expect from Android. I still want a Linux phone though.

Are persistent notifications still a requirement for background apps, such as Signal? One of the reasons I switched to CalyxOS. Not the Signal persistent notification specifically, but it, in combination with all the others I needed running in the BG, made it very difficult to not miss new notifications. I like CalyxOS just fine, but I agree with you on GrapheneOS. I was very excited that it was exactly as I've always wanted android to be (but wasn't), except for those persistent notifications.