Bargaining Stage

My husband passed just before Christmas and I was notified on Christmas Eve. He had been battling alcohol and prescription drug abuse for years, so I had prepared myself for this ending.  He died alone at home on the bathroom floor and wasn't found for several days.

I started going to ALANON in 2004, but none of the family could get him to enter rehab. I keep repeating the three "C"s: I didn't cause it, I can't control it, and I can't cure it but I still have feelings of guilt. Could I have been a better wife? Should I have said the things I did (tough love) to try and get him to stop drinking? Should I have walked away, which I did because my daughter and I couldn't live in that environment any longer? My chaplain said I am in the bargaining stage of Grief and not to stay here too long.

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