Batiste is a Juilliard trained musician who comes from a highly regarded family of Louisiana musicians. This jazz man also happens to be the bandleader and musical director of The Late Show With Stephen Colbert. Jaouad is a Princeton graduate, a highly respected writer who has won an Emmy, is a New York Times columnist and is also a best selling author. These two first met when he was 14 and she was 13. A few years later they were dating and have been with each other going on 19 years. When she graduate college she was set to follow Batiste to Paris but tragically she fell ill and was diagnosed with leukemia. She was given a 35% chance of surviving. After about two years in and out of the hospital she beat the odds and was declared free of cancer. God bless.