I've had very sad dreams over the years...very rarely but still memorable.

Most memorable ones are my sister and my father were dead in two seperate dreams spaced within about 10 years of eachother i'd say . But i've woken up crying (my face and pillow was wet, and i was literally crying uncontrollably as i woke up) , my heart feeling sadness and taking about 30 seconds to realize that it was just a dream. And then feeling an overwhelming sense of relief. What does this usually mean (if thats the right question to ask)? or signify??? how does it happen?? both my sister and my father are in full perfect health now, and have never been seriously ill or had accidents, even in the dreams, they were just dead, they didnt die, they were just dead!
I also recently had another traumatic dream where i saw my brother punching his girlfriends 7 year old son in a fit of rage! in real life my brother is a gentle and caring man, and i know he would never do anything like that EVER!! and him and his girlfriend are very happy. the childs father has never been around as he left when he found out that he got her pregnant, and my brother has been like a father to him since he was about 3 ! i also woke up crying from that dream!

I hope i'm not tempting fate by posting this... im very supersticious, and i havent really spoken about these dreams in detail... or have i told my sister or my father about my dream! i'd love any thoughts!

I've had dreams like that where family members died and it was really sad. Dreams like this could stem from an insecurity that family and friends could abandon you or betray you in some way.