Am I the only one who feels this way?

I love the old saying "Some friends are for a season, some friends are for a reason".
I have always had people in my life that come and go, yet leave footprints on my heart that make them impossible to ever forget. There is an old boyfriend from high school who in my concious state rarely crosses my mind. He is not what I would call "the great love of my life". Just a normal high school sweetheart kind of thing. We did not share any of the awkward "firsts" of adolesence with each other. Yet, for some reason, once or twice a month I have vivid dreams in which he plays the starring role. No clue why this is!
I have an ex who I dated for a long amount of time and back in those days I thought he climbed up on a ladder and hung the moon for me each and every night. These days I have to really rack my brain to recall anything about him! He is just gone from my heart and soul as if he was never there.
There is another ex who will always be a part of who I am. When he hurts, I hurt with him. When he is happy, I am happy for him. Even when we broke up and I felt that my life could not possibly continue without him in it, I still felt good knowing he was in a better place.
He is hurting now, and I want to help so bad. I just don't know what to do or say to make it better. I did not cause the pain, but I can see clearly now the sort of pain I did cause him in the past--and it kills me.