One day in my twenties, someone told me about someone elses mother, who was lamenting about the strangeness of humans, who do consume milk from other creatures (she was not vegan, just talking about the strange habit we cultivate). 
It was the point, when my mind started to ask itself about why we do that. I read the first time about veganism. And to be honest, I would have never thought about before, that it is truly possible to live without dairy. The whole idea about that gave me great relief. At least when it came to bodily pain. "Ah, I don't really have to consume that?" After gaining this insight, I just couldn't help myself as slowly quitting.

I also started to think and feel about the industrial usage of animals. I wasn't aware of mass and battery production until then. All this differs somehow on how I saw farming in my own youth at my family's places. Of course there was a dead or used animal in the end. But we also had to survive somehow. It was a necessity. And there was a honored relationship with the animals.