Marc Mero is a former World Wide Wrestling champion and author of "How to Be the Happiest Person on the Planet."

He is considered one of the best motivational speakers in America. His emotional life story is revealed through the following transcript that comes from a powerful presentation in front of an auditorium filled with middle school students.Marc has given me his permission to share his story with you and anyone you think might benefit from his message, especially with someone who, for whatever reasons, has pulled away from the one person who has given him or her the gift of life.Here's Marc's story.I've overdosed on drugs on three occasions when I should have been dead.So my friends drive me home at 2, 3, 4 o'clock in the morning. We'd be drunk and high, laughing in the car. We pull up to my house and they go, "Mark, the light's on."I go, "Oh, man, my mother's up."I walk inside and she says, "Hi, Mark, how was your night?""Man, I'm just going to go to bed.""Can I talk to you for a minute?""Mom, I'm tired. I'm just going to go to bed.""Marc, I haven't seen you all day and all night. Can I please talk to you?""Just leave me alone. Don't bug me!"I slammed my door on the only person whoever believed in me.I was on a worldwide tour and we were wrestling in Japan. After my match, I went upstairs to my hotel room and fell asleep. There was a knock on my door at 3 a.m. It was a Japanese promoter. I opened the door."Marc, you need to call home. There's an emergency." So I called home."Just say it!" I screamed."Marc, your mother died."I put the phone down and walked out into the middle of a street in Hiroshima, Japan, and I looked up."Mom, I'm so sorry!" I cried.I flew home for her funeral. I was so nervous. I stood way in the back and I said to myself, "Mom, please wake up! Please get up!" I finally got the nerve to walk up to her, and as I got closer I could see my mom for the first time. She was beautiful. She was dressed in white. She looked like an angel!I stood over her and said, "Mom, you are my hero. Everything I am and I hope to be is because of you. You loved me so much. You gave me life. You're the only one who believed in me. I wish I could talk to you now, Mom. Why could I not have been a better son?"(Marc's concluding comments) We are defined by our choices. If you surround yourself with people involved in drugs, alcohol and pills, it's a dead end.If you have a mother, then when you go home, tell her how much you love her.I no longer live in time. I live in moments. It's not what's in your pocket that matters, It's what's in your heart that truly matters.Love - love is just a word until someone comes along and gives it meaning. You are that meaning.I chose Marc's speech for this column because he reminds us how we can easily be distracted from the one thing we need the most. Whether it's drugs, alcohol, our jobs or anything that continues to drive us down the road in the wrong direction, we should stop, turn around and head back toward those who love us unconditionally.I applaud all mothers who have stood alongside their children through the smiles, the successes, the tears and the failures. To those moms who are at peace in heaven, your spirit lives on eternally through your love that you have left with your children.To repeat what Marc Mero said, "Love is just a word until someone comes along and gives it meaning." Everyday and every moment, a mom brings meaning to love. She has given her children the gift of life and leaves a part of her soul to each of them.Even though we grow up to become independent adults, we will always be her "babies."Happy Mother's Day, ladies!Note: Marc Mero can be contacted at his website, Champion of Choice.Rich Strack can be reached at

katehep11@gmail.com.