Meaning of "surrealistically" in an NYT article

I was reading this article from the New York Times and I came across the word surrealistically. I know surreal means something resembling a dream. But I am not sure what is it that the author wants to express.

Here is the context:

In any breakup, there is this moment when a person who was a part of you just an instant ago becomes a surrealistically familiar stranger.

Can someone please enlighten me?

Solution 1:

Surrealistically is an adverb of surreal which can mean unreal or fantastic. Thus this person seems both like a stranger and someone familiar, something pretty surreal. In the example, surrealistically modifies the word familiar.