Alex Rodriguez opens up about heartbreaking grocery store trip with his mother as a 12-year-old that changed his life forever

Long before the spotlight, World Series titles and business deals, Alex Rodriguez faced moments of quiet struggle—one of which still fuels him today.

Rodriguez made countless memories with his mother Lourdes, who raised him as single mother after moving back to Miami from the Dominican Republic when Alex was 10. However, there was one moment from when the New York Yankees was 12, which changed his life forever.

In an interview with Operation Hope's stakeholders on Wednesday, A-Rod recounted one memory from their trip to grocery store which opened his eyes to the importance of financial literacy.

"Sometime when I was around 12 years old, we’re at the local supermarket, and the bill was about $75," A-Rod said.

"And I’ll never forget this. I remember this like it was yesterday. The bill was around $75. She reaches in her purse, she pulls out 55 bucks, and then she goes into another pocket. And to this day, I call it funny money.

"And I remember asking my mom, I said, 'Mom, what is that? That’s like Monopoly money.' And she looked down with a lot of shame and said, 'You know, little Alex, this month the government’s helping us a little bit.'"

This moment made Alex Rodriguez realize the importance of financial literacy.

"And it was at that time that I realized that I needed to be, while the youngest in the family, I needed to be the alpha and the leader," A-Rod added.

"And I knew that the way out of that situation that we were in — ’cause Mom was getting older — was through financial literacy."

It also led A-Rod to learn the real meaning of the American Dream.

"And it was at that point that I thought the American dream was leaving me and leaving our family. But then I realized that the American dream is not about wealth and success. It’s truly about grit," he added.

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Alex Rodriguez reveals mother's hardships meant she couldn't attend games

Alex Rodriguez is a proud mama's boy and has said so on numerous occasions. As a young kid growing his baseball career at Boys & Girls Club of Miami-Dade, A-Rod always wondered why his mother could never make it to every game. However, when he got to the bottom of the reason, he got humbled.

"My father left when I was 10, and my mom had to go into overtime and start working two jobs," Rodriguez said via People. "She was a secretary in the morning, and she served tables at night, so she'd be gone from eight in the morning to midnight.

"No, she did not come around very often. I remember she probably came to a handful of my games growing up, and I remember how nervous I would get," he says, adding, "When she was there, I was trying to really impress her."

That's when Alex Rodriguez understood why financial literacy is so important, having realized that through early hardships.

"So I just went into being a great student about financial literacy and how to unlock that for my family and myself," he said.

Today, Alex Rodriguez is not only a successful ballplayer but has also expanded his reach with multiple investments through A-Rod Corp, a business firm that's valued at $1 billion, per People.