Could that strange morning have meant something, or am I blaming myself?

Not knowing someone had died is different from seeing a clear warning and choosing to ignore it. A dream or an uneasy feeling can seem like a message afterward, but it doesn’t give you reliable information about what’s happening in another room. From what you described, you didn’t know he needed help. That isn’t the same as failing him.

Grief can keep sending you back through the day, searching for a moment where things could have changed. If that loop is taking over, talking it through with a grief counselor could help you carry the loss without treating yourself as responsible for it.

I’d separate two questions: whether the experience felt meaningful to you, and whether it proves you could have prevented what happened. The first is yours to interpret. The second needs something more concrete than a dream or a feeling, and this account doesn’t describe you having that kind of warning.

When an awful event happens, earlier details can look connected in hindsight. That doesn’t mean you made them up, just that a powerful coincidence can take on extra weight afterward. You can remember the experience without turning it into a duty you failed to perform.

You don’t have to settle on a supernatural explanation or dismiss what you felt. If a spiritual interpretation gives you comfort, you can hold it as personal meaning rather than proof that you were supposed to act. Either way, it doesn’t make you responsible for knowing what you couldn’t see.

It may also help to tell someone you trust the whole story, including the guilt, not just the unsettling parts. Loss like this can be hard to process alone.