Stephen Colbert’s mother, Lorna Tuck Colbert, died last week at the age of 92. On his first show back after her death, he took a minute at the beginning of the show to honor her memory.
“Hi everybody. Thanks for being here tonight, everybody in here and out there watching. I’ve been away from the Report for a week because one week ago today, my mother, Lorna Tuck Colbert died. And I want to thank everybody who offered their thoughts and prayers. Now if you watch this show, and you like this show, that’s because of everybody who works here and I’m lucky to be one of them. But when you watch the show, if 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.”
Colbert then went on to describe his mother and her life. His affection and admiration was clear in the way her described her strength and resilience.
“She knew more than her share of tragedy, losing her brother and 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 love life without bitterness and instill in all of us a gratitude for every day we have together. And I know it may sound greedy to want more days with a person who lived so long, but the fact that my mother was 92 does not diminish, it only magnifies, the enormity of the room whose door has now quietly shut.”
A full transcript is available at Third Beat.