Steve Harvey was doing his regular TV show on his birthday when he got a call his crew put through to him while he was on the air.  After hearing the call, Harvey broke down and wept openly.  Here is the call:

“Hi Steve, this is Rich Liss from Orlando, Florida, and I called to wish you a happy birthday, and to ask you one question: Do you still love me, baby?”

Everyone has those certain people in their life who change everything. For Steve Harvey, Rich and his wife, Becky, are those people. When Steve was young and down on his luck, this couple took him under his wing and gave him the opportunity he needed to not only get by but also to succeed.

“I was 26 years old and I didn’t have nothin’,” Steve shares. “And these people owned a furniture store in Cleveland. And they took me in and gave me my first contract with my little carpet cleaning company.”

As if it was not enough for this couple to give a young man they didn’t know such a huge break, their good deeds continued for Steve.

Steve shares with his audience his tale of trying to make it big as a comedian. As anyone with a dream knows, chasing that dream can be a long, emotionally draining, and expensive process. In Steve’s case, trying to become a comedian put the then 27-year old into $11,000 worth of debt! The Liss’s again did the unthinkable.

When Steve says they helped him out, it’s the understatement of the century – they paid off his debt and made it easier for Steve to chase his Hollywood dreams.

Harvey then went on to say that as a celebrity restaurants or other patrons are always giving him free meals without asking even though he can easily afford to pay for himself, but when he was down and out, only the Lisses.