Sorry, Charlie, but I've read the same comments several times before. People who claim that some significant person in their lives is in any way responsible for their sobriety. This is just another version of blaming other people for our troubles, sober or otherwise.
I needed to take responsibility for my own behaviors and decisions, as well as the consequences of what I say and do, in order to grow as a person and to achieve sobriety.
It's you, and always you, who plans and sets the stage for a relapse, just as it is for everyone else who relapses. Early on, we tend to place conditions on our sobriety, harboring reservations as to when and under what circumstances under which we'll drink again. I was always in danger of picking up the drink until I confronted this reality.
You're rationalizing your wife's absence as a reason to drink instead of framing it as an opportunity to do what you want to do while the cat's away.
Get real, and be honest with yourself.