One of my good friends died unexpectedly 8ish months ago. He was 33, healthy, active, etc., and it was awful. For his wife, for his unborn baby, his family, his friends, our whole group that has been best friends since day 1 of college. He truly was the life of the party and felt like the glue of our group, always hosting for games and cooking up a storm, and organizing activities for everyone to get together.
He has been popping up in my dreams consistently since he died, and they are always so heartbreaking to wake up from. Usually in the dreams, he is there but we know he isn’t “supposed” to be there. In some of them, he’s physically fading in and out of reality like a hologram or something. I often recognize that he could leave us at any second so try to take advantage of the time we have with him. He always seems so happy and normal in the dreams.
A couple nights ago, I had a dream that it was the day he died, but instead of his wife finding him on the ground too late, she found him and he was still alive. He was talking in the dream but we didn’t know if he was going to make it.
Last night, he and I were mid-conversation and it hit me that he was going to die soon. We were eating this multi-colored cake that I made for a dessert for a real life Friendsgiving we hosted with he and our friend group at my house in 2024. Then his dog (who died a week before him in 2025) comes up in conversation but I realize that for him, the dog isn’t dead yet. It’s like he’s living pre-death day but I am in present tense and can see what’s going to happen.
Until him, I’d never lost a friend before, and haven’t really lost anyone else unexpectedly that I’m close to. Are these sorts of dreams normal? Do they mean anything? Any thoughts are welcome, thank you!