I think there is great meaning to dreams...not particularly the content but the feelings they evoke that we can relate to an actual even(s) in our life. I always used to dream of coming to a beautiful, well kept green and white house. I went inside and there were stairs right inside the door. I started climbing and when I was part way up realized the stairs behind me had dissapeared. Not only that but it was so "black" i could not even see the floor below me. There was no way to go but "up". There was no going back down, but I was terrified of whatever might be upstairs. I never did get to the top because I would wake up screaming. When I think of that dream, the feeling of being trapped in an abusive marriage and the dread of each day wondering what he would do to me...... it was the same feelings. i have never dreamed that dream since we went in different directions.

Dadda, I dream a lot me too and my dreams affect my mood. Today I felt so sad , because last night I dreamed of love or hope to find love. I believe it is because I went to bed after watching the movie " Love and Pain and the whole damn thing" Anyway, at least I know why I had such dream. But sometimes I have dreams I cannot find any explanation for. I like to visit dreammoods.com to find the definition. For your dream I think of your ex, maybe telling him that he does not have any place in your life anymore, maybe telling him that it is over. Not sure but look what dreammoods says, it gives vague explanation and I am not saying that it is true, but I always go there to interpret my dream because I am dreamer. The following is the perhaps interpretation:

Old
To see something old in your dream suggests that there is something in your life that you need to replace or get rid of. Alternatively, the dream means that there may be something in the past that you need to incorporate into your current life.
To see or dream that you are an old man or woman refers to your wise decisions. Negatively, it may mean your unyielding ways and rigid thinking. Perhaps you have concerns about aging and growing old.

according to dreammoods:To see an old man in your dream represents wisdom or forgiveness. The old man may be a archetypal figure who is offering guidance to some daily problem.

Thank you Cattleya, I like the Old as "wiser" (hint, hint!!). I can be firm, but I know that I am willing to look at, look for and evaluate new information and WILL change my position, but usually not right away. I like to think things over. So hopefully, the only "unyielding" will be my core values and beliefs. I think it is sort of interesting that there was a young woman who I could see was "me" but the opposite sex and older, with me in the middle, does make it sort of interesting ... sort of like "all of me" there. And you know, I feel like that about the world at times, like there are no places to just GO and truly be free, at least for a time. But I do think it relates more to the feelings I was getting, more despondent, as I agreed to more and more that seemed "reasonable" at the time but which limited my options or made any choices I made much harder, longer (time) and costlier to carry out. Thank you for the link, too ... I love symbols ...

I had a dream a while back; there was a woman (different race) who kept getting into my house when I was gone and I was trying to figure out the how and why. What I ended up getting ... she had a key ... was that she was my "dark side" and I was working on myself ... what I TRY to do (not always successful, definitely) is to look at that side and try to find ways that are acceptable to express some of what's in there. What I learned is that if I don't, the problem is either hiding part of the self from others, which encourages "living a double life" or at least affects integrity. A lot of stuff in the "dark side" is just stuff, that when examined, might be shame based so "can't do it" but looking at it realistically, it isn't what it seemed or there are healthy ways to satisfy needs that are normal but not seen as such (in some families, belief systems, whatever). So that dream was pretty helpful.

Oldandwiser, that is such a cool dream, to me. It seems VERY symbolic and expressive; like you "knew" what you maybe couldn't express consciously (safety, your own fears, etc). But like your mind was focused on the themes of a better life, more consciousness and maybe spirituality, but the very real fear of change and the knowledge of making that big break: once you go, there IS no going back to "what was" or who you used to be. Especially since you stopped dreaming it after ... before I was gone the first time, there seemed to ALWAYS be tornadoes in my dreams; they never hit, but they were prominent and I am sure, expressive of the (emotional) atmosphere and how it could affect life.

PS, I used to believe that life would be better as I got older (that was before I started getting all these pains in my 40s LOL). I still believe it, as I have had several friends the past few years in their 80s, one who is still very spry (we used to go walking together). Just gotta get past this hump ... I think we just get more knowledge and hopefully wisdom, and that by itself can make a big difference, I think.