I was on my way to Jared’s funeral who had fought leukemia bravely for several years when we got the call: CNN wanted us to fly over to Kenya to film a segment for a show. It was Wednesday, and they wanted me to leave on Monday. Nancy was going to a convention for foreign language teachers, and so we had to scramble to get coverage for the kids. I would leave Monday and get back Friday.

I flew out on Monday around noon and arrived in Nairobi Tuesday around 10 pm. My luggage with my clothing did not make it, and we were scheduled to begin shooting the next day. We went to a hotel and I tried to sleep, but I had crossed many time zones and sleep didn’t come easily. I woke up at 6 and we went to the first school.

The producer was from South Africa, and the video, sound and stills guys all lived in Kenya, so they were all ready to go for it. We needed to stop and buy me some clothes, which was a first in all my years in Kenya. We bought some stuff, and I went into a bathroom to change when I discovered a slight issue:

Kenyan underwear has no openings

Not to be disgusting, but male underwear usually has a hole in it that allows us to easily USE the underwear. It was probably appalling to people seeing a sleep deprived guy desperately trying to get at an opening that just wasn’t there. The wonder of me is that I was surprised every time I tried to go to the restroom; and nothing makes a great impression like some old guy yelling at his pants in a public restroom.

After a day of shooting, I discovered an unexpected shocking empathy towards supermodels. They would ask me to walk to a school, and then walk again, because I didn’t walk good enough. They would tell me to walk with more PURPOSE, whatever that meant.

Have you ever wondered what the worst job in hell would be? I know what it is. You would be given a camera and be ordered to take a good picture of ME. At a certain point, he would ask me to smile and I would give him a look that indicated I had sat on something sharp. Towards the end of the day, I looked at his pictures and whatever the direction he had given me (turn right and look pensive; look up and be concerned), my facial expression remained the SAME in EVERY picture, which was an actual pretty impressive accomplishment when you think about it.

I got to spend the night at RVA and see some old friends and read many, many college essays, and then we were ready to start the final day of filming. We started at 7am and we filmed until 6. My flight left that Thursday night at around 11:30pm, so we ran to the airport and I was ready to fly back.

My flight got cancelled, and so around 1am they took us to a hotel. I had brought a bag of books and computers that had made it, so I left the computers and books at RVA and used the bag to put dirty clothes in, and I checked it and they wouldn’t give it back. So, when I got to the hotel, they opened the gift shop, and I bought the only deodorant they had; it was called Pearl and it made me smell like a daffodil, which further impressed all around me.

They told us there would be a van at 5am, and it was imperative to be on that van. I slept for about two hours, and showered and put back on the same clothes. We got to the airport, and in a lovely Kenyan moment, the airport didn’t open until 6. After a four hour delay, I headed off to France.

When I got into France, it was around 4 o’clock and my connecting flight was long gone. I was stuck in France; I would make the most of it. I would take the train and see the Eifel Tower, and use all the junior high French that I learned so well that I can make my wife twitch whenever I speak it.

But there was a transportation strike, and the train and buses were not operating. I hadn’t brought any money to speak of on the trip, so after waiting three hours, I was taken to my very French hotel, charmingly called the Comfort Inn.  . After a short night, I made it to the airport and got back to America.  My luggage was good enough to arrive a week after I arrived back in the US.

We did make the finals, so we are going to New York next week to be on a TV show. If you go to cnn.com/heroes you can see more about it. It is going to be televised live Thursday, Dec. 6, at 9 p.m. (ET) on CNN. We asked the kids if they wanted to go, and Ben got tears in his eyes and told us that he didn’t want to miss the bakery field trip, so we have discovered where this rates in the important scheme of things.

I lost a wonderful friend right as this happened, and it helped to keep it all in perspective. Jared was only 29; I knew him from the time he was a little kid, and our families had stayed close over the years. He was a great kid, and he fought and fought, and he never gave up.  He was such an example to all of us who loved him.

It isn’t original, and I can’t find who said it, but it really applies to Jared: In dying, he taught us all something about living.

Your pal

Steve