For me it was fear of change. Fear that as soon as I left he'd make the changes I wanted him to make. Fear of what people thought. Fear that he would hurt himself.
You name it and I was afraid of it. But then I thought, it couldn't be worse than the fear of wondering every night if he was drinking or where he was or what was he doing.
One thing you said that keeps pounding over and over in my head is
Originally Posted by
Gettingstronger 
but this is a progressive disease
That is so true. My sweet, kind, do-anything-for-you(sober) husband eventually progressed and became abusive; mental, verbal and eventually physical. Something I never thought in a million years he would do. It is progressive.
Someone at SR said to me the other day that the right thing is never the easy thing. Only you know what is right for you!