Comedian and TV presenter Steve Harvey has a true story of rags to riches, and one that many people don’t even know about.

These days he is considered one of the most influential celebrities in America, but few are aware of the grinding journey he had to embark upon as he fought for his dreams, enduring some dire situations and circumstances on his way to the top.

Born in West Virginia to a coal miner, Steve Harvey didn’t have a lot growing up. When he did set out to forge a career he had to fund his dream with a string of jobs including being a mailman, carpet cleaner and even a boxer.

After his divorce from his first wife, he was sending his pay checks from his standup comedy gigs home to his kids, leaving him with hardly any money. As a difficult consequence, he found himself homeless.
He adopted Marjorie’s children and took on an extended family, which can’t have been easy to step into. But little did Harvey know just how much he meant to the children he adopted.

Appearing on Harvey’s show for a special birthday surprise, each of his seven children shared their favorite moment with their dad, but it was Harvey’s stepson Jason who moved the funny man to tears.

“You took my mother,” Jason began. “But you gained a whole lot more with that. You gave me your last name, and that’s the unthinkable.

“My father, you know, he did what he could, but he wasn’t there. And you stepped in and you gave me that.

“I appreciate the man that you are, the example that you are for our children … I appreciate how you love me, how you loved my children as though they were yours, how you treat my parents as though they were your parents. Just everything.”