The uncle mystery

Today I heard that my uncle has passed away. He was the eldest of seven children, my mother's brother. He is a mystery to me, having never met him my entire life. He left before I was born to Taiwan, and came back not too many years ago. And now he is gone.

It started with a short curt message on his demise, and quickly transitioned to:

1. Irrational arguments about taking the bus versus plane on account of planes being "very expensive", aunts having "plane phobias" and "nobody can pick us up from the airport"