NATIONAL TV THE CBS EARLY SHOW

I apologize for not writing this blog earlier but the whole family was still in a daze from the events on Friday. We received a call from the CBS producers that they wanted to do a segment on Justin's Quest. We were so honored by this. Well come to learn that TV productions happen last minute and we received confirmation late Wednesday of the big day. CBS booked the 6 of us: myself, Audrey, Jordan, Justin, Jacob and Joey on the Delta Shuttle and 2 rooms at the Le Meridian hotel. By the way this day would not have happened if it were not for the efforts of Jay Rosenberg and Eric Shuster of Comcast Sports Net securing the surprise guest Greivis Vasquez for the show. Greivis was supposed to be in Indy Thursday for a dinner that night before his presentation of the Bob Cousy award for the best point guard in college basketball. He jumped at the chance to help Justin, that shows what great character this man has. Not only did Jay make the contact to get Greivis he personally flew him up on his private plane to make all this happen. Justin and his brothers had NO IDEA that Greivis was going to surprise them at the set. We landed at Laguardia airport in New York at 5:30 pm and CBS arranged for a black SUV to pick us up. You could see the smiles on the kids faces. We got to the hotel and of course the first stop was Justin's favorite store, the NBA store. We shopped frantically as we had a 8 pm reservation at Carmens for a fantastic Italian dinner with our family and a Chris Grundner, a member of NBTS. We got back to the hotel and Justin wanted to sleep with me as Audrey and I sensed he was a little nervous about the segment, you would never know it because he acted like an elite athlete getting ready for the big game. You could feel and see the determination on his face both days as he wanted the public to understand his story and raise awareness about brain tumors and help others. He finally he got to sleep around 11:30 pm as I was up on my computer doing work for my company. He finally said " dad you have to get in bed with me and hug me or I cannot fall asleep", of course I obliged. The morning came quick as I slept very little. I got ready around 5 am and got the rest of the family up at 6 am to get ready for our car to take us to CBS studio at 7 am. We arrived at CBS at 7:15 am and were greeted by Carl and Maricar the wonderful producers from CBS. We were led downstairs to a conference room which had breakfast for us. The staff treated us great. Myself and Justin were nervous as both of us had never been on National TV. We both had our game faces on. Audrey and I were nervous for Justin. Again, he was very excited for this segment because he knew that because of CBS's generosity he would take a huge leap forward in his goal with Justin's Quest. At 8 am they took Justin and I to the makeup room and I joked with Justin that he was going to get lipstick and eye shadow, he laughed. Again, you could see the determination of this boy to make a difference for people afflicted with this disease. The time came for us to go to the plaza and they had Justin and his brothers shoot hoops 5 minutes before the segment. We were fitted with mics and then it happened so fast. Harry Smith from the CBS Early Show greeted us and was so awesome in giving words of encouragement. We gave most of the staff we dealt with Justin's Quest wristbands and they happily wore them. Then ACTION, the interview started and it was so exciting. Of course the best part was the Greivis Vasquez surprise. Justin's face lit up with such surprise and the biggest smile I have seen from him since he was diagnosed with a brain tumor. After the segment was over we spent about 10 private minutes with Greivis and his cousin Ruben as Greivis had to catch a plane to Indy. Greivis was so incredible and genuine in his care and concern for Justin's plight. He even gave Justin his wristband that he has worn for 5 years from his high school Montrose Christian and signed a basketball for Justin along with a signed hat and tshrt. Justin was so honored to get the wristband. Greivis had to leave for a flight to make his award ceremony in Indy by 1:30 pm. All we can say is a huge thank you to Greivis for taking the time out of his busy schedule to do this, he is so awesome, it is an experience the whole family will not forget. We want to thank the CBS Early Show for honoring our family with this segment because they have helped further the cause of Justin's Quest as we received numerous emails and donations from this segment. BUT WAIT it did not stop that day. Jay had arranged another surprise for Justin and the family. He arranged for us to shoot hoops with 2 of the band members of OAR, Benj and Mark at Battery Park. Mind you these guys are superstars, who happened to grow up about 2 miles from where we live and they were 2 of the most down to earth people you would have ever met. They spent about 45 minutes with us shooting hoops and talking with us. If you never knew who these guys were you would not believe that they were rock stars as they are so grounded and humble. They blew me away by their compassion and concern for Justin. We cannot wait to see them in concert in August as they want to help with Justin's Quest. They even offered to hang with us at a barbecue when they come down to the DC area. We cannot wait. We left them and had pizza and shopped some more then went home and have been in a daze from all the excitement. For 2 days our family felt like VIP's and had so much fun but what we all discussed on the plane that what we were most proud of, was the accomplishment that we made a huge leap in advancing Justin's Quest. At the end of the day all that matters is that we try to help others with this terrible disease. Audrey and I are so proud of our kids and especially Justin for wearing his emotions on his sleeve for the world to see and sacrifice himself for the good of others afflicted with this disease. Again, Thank you to all those involved in making this day happen and hopefully the National Brain Tumor Society is one step closer to making a cure for brain tumors happen. that day 25 hoops were made.