Was there a moment when you suddenly saw a parent or older relative as a real person, not just a parent?

A natural way to answer

It happened when my mum told me, almost in passing, about a dream she'd given up when she was young. Hearing that shifted something in me, and I started to see her as a whole person with her own regrets, not just my mother.

Key phrases to use

• knocked me sideways — shocked or affected you so strongly that you struggled to react“The news knocked me sideways.”
• shifted something — caused a quiet but real change in how you feel or see things“That conversation shifted something in me.”
• took my breath away — amazed or moved you so much you were momentarily lost for words“The view took my breath away.”
• came undone — fell apart or stopped holding together, here used about a belief or image“My whole picture of him came undone.”