Although I no longer have this particular dream, there was a period of several years, where I would recall an old flame for whom I had previously harbored great affection. She was one of my first loves, although at the time she was in her early teens and far too young to fall as deeply as I had. (She was 15 and I was 19). In the dream, I pursued the relationship ardently and she was certainly aware of the sincerity of my feelings. Nevertheless, she was generally very cool and noncommitted in response. Usually, I would just eventually give up and stop trying to woo her. But, in a couple of dreams about her, we actually got married. However, upon returning home from work, I would find that she had moved out and back into her parents' house, giving me no explanation. Despite my best efforts, she could not be encouraged to return. In almost every dream I have had about her, it was always an exercise in futility and left me feeling utterly rejected. I guess I understand the basic meaning of the dreams, but it was always hard for me to participate in them because the outcome was always the same. Of course, I have long since moved on, I have been married to my wife for 36 years. But, it took nearly 2 or 3 decades for me to finally stop dreaming this recurrent dream of unrequited love.

Perhaps the dream was not just about unrequited love for a person, but about some other unfulfilled desire. That could explain why you continued to have the dream for such a long time.