Hi Cindyst, welcome to Dreamviews!

You are lucky to had lucid dreams so easily. Stress of a new job and relationship could have played a role in dropping your lucid dream count. Here are some excercises you can do to have lucid dreams more often Induction Methods and Techniques You will see that there are different induction techniques.

If you believe, as some do, that lucid dreams are more than just something happening in your mind, then, theoretically, yes, you can meet someone who had died. Please check out the Beyond Dreaming forum for that. You may wanna ask you question there as well. Beyond Dreaming happy dreams