Mark Mero | This Heartbreaking Story Will Make You Love Again

Mark Mero - Love

Professional wrestler Mark Mero retells the tragic story of how his mother's death changed his whole outlook on life.

Transcript:

I have overdosed on drugs on three occasions where I should have been dead, but I believe I was kept here for a reason. You show me your friends, I will show you your future. How do I know this? I hung out with losers and I became the biggest loser of them all because I gave up everything I dreamt about as a little boy because of who I chose to surround myself with. My friends would drive me home at 2:00, 3:00, 4:00 in the morning. We'd be drunk and high, laughing in the car. We'd pull up in front of my house in the yard. They'd go, "Mark, Mark. The lights on." I go, "Oh man! My mother's up." My mom wouldn't go to bed until she knew her son was still alive.

I'd walk in, she'd say, "Hi, Mark. How was your night?" I go, "It was good, mom. Just going to go to bed." She goes, "Can I talk to you for a minute?" I go, "Mom, I'm tired. I'm just going to go to bed." She goes, "Mark, I haven't seen you all day and all night. Can I please talk to you?" I said, "Man, just leave me alone. You bug me." I'd slam my bedroom door on the one person who believed in me.

I was on a worldwide tour and we were wrestling overseas in Japan. After my wrestling match, I go upstairs in my hotel room and I fall asleep. There was a knock on my door at 3:00 in the morning. I got out of bed, I looked through the safety window, and I could see it was a Japanese promoter. I opened the door and he said, "Mark, you need to call home. There's been an emergency." I went and got on the hotel room phone. I called back [inaudible 01:26], said, "Hey, what's going on?" I said, "Mark, I don't know how to tell you this." I said, "Just tell me what happened." Somebody started crying. They go, "Mark, I can't tell you." I said, "Just say it." She said, "Mark, your mother died."

I just threw the phone down. I ran out of my hotel room. I took the elevator to the lobby. When the doors opened up, I just ran out into the street. There was no cars, there was no people. It's 3:00 in the morning. I walked down the middle of the street in Hiroshima, Japan. I remember looking up and just saying, "Mom, I am so sorry."

I flew home for her funeral, and I was so nervous to walk up to her casket, so I just stood way in the back. I kept looking from a distance. I kept thinking to myself, "Mom, please wake up. Please get up." Then I finally got the nerve to walk up to her. As I got closer, I could see my mom for the first time. She was so beautiful. She was dressed in white. She looked like an angel. I just stood over her and I said, "Mom, you are my hero. Everything I am, everything I hope to be was because of you. You loved me so much. You gave me a life. You're the only one that ever believed in me." How did I repay her? By getting drunk, by getting high, by getting stupid, by hanging out with losers. For what? All she ever wanted to do was talk to me. I wish I could talk to you now, mom. I wish you could see what I'm doing. Why couldn't I have been a better son?

We are defined by our choices, but if you surround yourself with people involved in drugs and alcohol and pills, it's a dead end. I'm not here to preach to you. I'm here to tell you I lived that life. It leads to broken hearts, broken relationships, broken dreams, and death. For what? To get high? If you have a mother or a father, when you go home, tell them how much you love them. My whole life was about being rich and famous. I had to be a millionaire. I had to win the race. I had to win the race at the expense of my marriage, my family, my friends. For what? To be all alone in the world? I learned what is truly important, and that is how precious this gift of life is and our families and how quickly it can be taken away.

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 somebody comes along and gives it meaning. You, you're the meaning.