WATCH: Stephen Colbert's beautiful tribute to his mother, Lorna

(Image credit: Colbert Report)

last updated 8 January 2015

Stephen Colbert doesn't break character very often, not on The Colbert Report or even when testifying before Congress on campaign finance. Family seems to be the exception. He briefly ditched his conservative-pundit shtick to stump for his sister, Elizabeth Colbert Busch, who went on to lose a House race to former Gov. Mark Sanford (R-S.C.). And on Wednesday night, he started his show with a very genuine, very moving eulogy for his mother, Lorna Colbert, who died last week at age 92.

It's the kind of tribute any one of us would be honored to receive. Colbert gives a brief sketch of Lorna Colbert's life, but the most touching parts are those that a newspaper obituary can't capture: A child's remembrance of his mother. From her teaching her children pratfalls by fainting on the kitchen floor to her dinner antics to her favorite prayer, Colbert paints a loving picture of a loving mom.

"I know that it may sound greedy to want more days with a person who lived so long," Colbert says. "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." He ends the eulogy with a sentiment his mother — who trained as an actress — would surely understand: The show must go on. Watch the entire show below, but Colbert gets one more tribute to his mother in during his sign-off. Watch:

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Peter has worked as a news and culture writer and editor at The Week since the site's launch in 2008. He covers politics, world affairs, religion and cultural currents. His journalism career began as a copy editor at a financial newswire and has included editorial positions at The New York Times Magazine, Facts on File, and Oregon State University.