After taking a break from his show "The Colbert Report" Stephen Colbert has returned to television to continue his late night satirical show. Before the show aired, Colbert took the time to dedicate the first three minutes to his late mother, Lorna Tuck Colbert, who passed away at the age of 92 last week, E! Online reports.
He fought back tears as he began to tell the audience about his mother but managed to not only give her a touching, heartfelt tribute but also managed to make the audience laugh at some of his fondest memories of his mom.
"I've been away from the 'Report' for a week because one week from today, my mother Lorna Tuck Colbert died," he began, "And I want to thank everybody who offered their thoughts and prayers."
"When you watch this show, if you like this show, that's because of everybody who works here, and I'm lucky enough to be one of them," he continued. "But when you watch the show and you also like me, that's because of my mom. So before we start the show again, I'd like to tell you a little bit about her."
He told the audience about his mother's childhood and how she met his father, James, when she was only 12-years-old. He said that his mother didn't want his father to know how much she liked him so "she would make her friends ride their bikes all the way across town to pass by his house, but then she'd never look to see if he was in the front yard." It drove her friends crazy. Eventually they ended up together and had 11 children.
"She made a very loving home for us," he said about his mom. "No fight between siblings could end without hugs and kisses, although hugs never needed a reason in her house."
He went on to say that his mother was no stranger to tragedy after losing a brother, her husband and three of her sons but "her love for her family and her faith in God somehow gave her the strength not only to go on but to live life without bitterness and instill in us a gratitude for every day we have together."
"We were the light of her life, and she let us know it 'till the end," he said.
He thanked the audience for listening and after gathering himself together began the show.
Last year, Colbert also took a short break from the show to go take care of his mother while she was sick. When Colbert was only 11-years-old he lost his father and two of his brothers in a plane crash in North Carolina.
