I’ve got a very similar history to yours, Lee, with the exception that my parents’ generation were the first to go Democrat in my family.
Like lots of Dems, I grew up thinking that that was the natural, default position of normal, decent American folks. It took some signature events in my own life to wake me to the fact that the Democrat party didn’t really stand for anything they claimed to, and that the Republicans were not the evil money-motivated monsters I’d been led to believe they were my whole life.
In fact, when I decided to step outside my lifelong conditioning and investigate the truth of American politics for myself, I was astonished to discover that I’d had things completely backwards for much of my life.
It didn’t take me long to realign my political allegiance, but even deeper than that, I felt a sense of vindication, because I really hadn’t changed. I’d always believed in the things that the Republican party (nominally) stood for. It was more that I’d broken my way out of a mental cocoon constructed of lies, which were designed to get me to support the destruction of everything I cherish and believe in.
In short, I’d found my way home to the truth. My truth.
You expressed your personal growth in very well, and in clear terms. Yes, one should be open to considering that maybe they don’t have all the proper answers to questions open to interpretation. Sometimes, an appraisal or evaluation is in order, even if only in your head. I never spoke to anyone about my Party Change till years later, during the Clinton years. Bill and Co. made it easy, even fashionable to prefer daylight between me and those of his ilk. Hillary can call it a right wing conspiracy if she wants to.