This is an interesting thread.
I've always had very vivid dreams. One that comes to mind is about my younger brother. This dream came shortly after his unexpected and too early passing.
I was looking at a home in a very swampy area. The real estate agent was showing me the house and each room we came to someone would say,"he was just here, you just missed him." I would quickly pass through a doorway into the next room where again a voice would tell me he had just been there and I had just missed him. I could almost feel him there and frantically raced to each new room until the last door way opened out into the swamp. I could go no further. I felt it was his way of telling me good-bye and that I could not follow him to where he was going.
I woke with such a heavy heart, and felt that , yes he was truly gone.
Sometimes I think my dreams are my way of excepting or coping with situations out of my control.