The first part - yes, that is right. 'as I best could' or 'as best I could' mean 'As well as I could', or 'the best that I could'.

"to bear something" = to withstand something, especially emotionally. To survive a struggle, again, emotionally. I can't bear to live in that house, because of all the bad things that happened there. I was able to bear the long hours at work, only because they were paying me well. "as best I could" Could = to be able to. as best = describes effort. Something tried hard. Did the most possible. As best I could = did something as much as was possible. Examples: I studied every night, I read my text book, I reviewed my notes, I did the best I could, but I still failed my exam. I didn't finish the race, but I'm still happy because I did the best I could.