I dont think i have ever lucid dreamed. But a quick back story. My father passed away app 5 years ago was rough for me and my 2 sisters in more than one way. I have had dreams of my father in the past, none that seemed to be lucid dreaming until what i think was a lucid dream but may be somewhere in the middle. Last night or this morning unsure when it took place, i was asleep and started to dream. I ended up in this house, no idea of whos house it was or anything but i was in a short hallway there was a slight dim light in hallway and a room on the left at end of hallway. All the sudden my father comes out of the room and to my recollection it felt like a normal dream. He was saying something to me standing a little more than arms length away after walking to me from end of hall while talking to me, which i cant recall in detail the convo i had, but was short lived and interrupted by this feeling. All the sudden this feeling of realizing i was in a dream took over because i realized my dad was no longer on this earth. However, what seemed almost instantaneous or shortly after (seconds) as soon as i realized the situation i had this feeling of just pure massive drive of unimaginable feeling to yell out to my father i felt this blast of just insane what seemed like brain burst that drove me to yell DAAAAAAAD! (Me yelling daaaad… wasnt an excitement of seeing him but of me yelling for him to hear me, Like he was in a different place even though he was literally right in front of me). I then felt this weird powerful feeling that i literally connected with him after this burst. Then he stopped talking while standing and all the sudden while in the hall in front of me he looked up above and side to side at the ceiling in the hallway almost as if whatever place he was in he heard me yell dad. The hallway seemed like it faded cause i realised the hallway wasnt real It felt so powerful, like reaching from one side to the other whatever that may be. Once that happened the dream stopped and i feel like i fell back to sleep while in the dream. i woke in real life at some point which didnt seem right away after that dream. I didnt remember the dream till later in the day but when i did i had this great feeling flow through me of that moment of connection. I dont remember what the hall looked like just the basics of it no good details just what i have explained. Its been on my mind all day not so much the dream but the feeling that just blew me away while asleep. Anyone ever have something like this before?
The only one who can be sure if you were lucid or not is you, but it sounds like a lucid dream to me. A recently dead friend, relative or pet can be a powerful dream sign and make you lucid. I have many such experiences. Even while lucid, we might not always be able to think straight and the strange things that usually happen in dreams, will continue to happen. The impulse to yell to your dad could just be an impulse without greater meaning behind it.
Dreams can be very emotionally charged, lucid or not. From my own experience, a lucid dream can make me feel serenity and happiness for a whole day. A non-lucid dream where Earth was destroyed and I was the only one saved made me feel more emotions than I think I’ve ever felt in waking life. A close second was a dream where I saw my brother turn to ash and then had to participate in his funeral rituals. I’ve never collapsed from crying, but in that dream I did.
To share a dream closer to what you experienced, I had a lucid dream that started in a cafeteria. In the line to get food, I saw my grandparents. Grandpa had recently passed away, so this had to be a dream. I became lucid and rushed to hug my grandpa. I was crying silently the whole duration of the long hug. I didn’t want to tell him that he was dead, I didn’t want to upset him. After that, I left him and the cafeteria to pursue my own lucid dreaming goal.