One of my favorite charities is Homes of Hope for Children in Purvis, Mississippi. I love what Dr. Michael Garrett and his staff are doing for so many kids.
Hey, what’s the first thing a redneck does after he strikes it rich? He buys himself a new truck, guns, and a house, probably in that order. After Duck Dynasty became popular and my nephew Willie finally gave me a raise for being on the show, one of the first things I did was buy Christine a new home in West Monroe, Louisiana.
Now, you might be surprised to learn that it’s not a very large house. Hey, I don’t need one of those big, fancy estates like my nephews have. I live well outside the city limits in the country, and I’m only a few miles down the road from my brother Phil. There’s a gas station down the street, and I can find about everything I need in there.
I bought us a new but modest manufactured home. There are a couple of bedrooms, a big living room, an open kitchen, dining room, and porches on the front and back of the house. It’s everything Christine and I need—and more than we thought we’d ever have. There’s no doubt the Good Lord has blessed us mightily.
Fortunately, one of the mobile home dealers in Monroe worked out a deal with me. I did some advertising and promotions for him, and he gave me a good deal on my new house. We put the new home on the same land where my old one once stood. While my old house was being bulldozed, the dealer put another mobile home on the lot next to me. Christine and I lived there until our new house was ready.
Hey, here’s the only problem with living in a place like West Monroe: everyone in town knows exactly where I live. If Duck Dynasty fans visit West Monroe, they only have to go to a restaurant or gas station and ask somebody where I live. The local folks are kind enough to give them my exact address.
Hey, don’t get me wrong. I don’t mind everybody knowing where I live. It’s nice to visit with fans that come by our house to see me, as long as they don’t arrive after midnight! There have been more than a few occasions when fans knocked on my front door long after I was asleep. They’ll knock loud enough to wake up Christine and me.
Well, one day Willie drove by my temporary home and noticed a lot of cars parked on the side of the road. He saw me posing for photographs in the front lawn with a big group of fans. When I went to work at Duck Commander the next day, Willie’s secretary told me that he wanted me to build a fence around my house for security reasons.
“Hey, I already have a good security system,” I told her.
“He still wants you to get a fence,” she said. “Willie said he would pay for it.”
Christine and I figured it might be time to get a privacy fence anyway. A few weeks earlier, she fell while working in the yard and broke her arm. One of our neighbors took photographs of her being carried away in an ambulance and sold them to the National Enquirer. Our neighbor even told the tabloid that I was standing in the front yard, crying. Hey, I was worried about my wife, but I wasn’t weeping. I knew she was going to be fine.
Well, a couple of weeks after my conversation with Willie’s secretary, there was a tall, white privacy fence all the way around my property. Hey, the contractor who built it must have thought I wanted to keep giraffes from looking into my windows. The fence is about ten feet tall! Willie about fell over when I handed him the bill; the fence cost more than thirty thousand dollars to build!
Hey, if I’ve learned anything during the past four years, it’s that the vast majority of Duck Dynasty fans are the greatest fans in the world. Everywhere I go, it amazes me how genuinely nice and loyal our fans are. So many of our fans are just like us; they’re hardworking and God-fearing Americans. They’re the salt of the earth. I think that’s a big reason there’s such a connection between the Robertson family and the people who love watching our show.
I’ll tell you something else: Duck Dynasty fans are some of the most generous people in the world. You wouldn’t believe some of the items they have mailed to me. There was one Duck Dynasty episode in which Willie and I appeared on Mountain Man’s radio show. When we arrived at the station, there was a silver bell sitting on the counter. I rang it, and then I rang it again and again. Hey, I’ve always had a thing for bells. Some people have a foot fetish. Well, I have a bell fetish.
After that show aired on TV, I must have received five hundred bells in the mail from fans. There were Liberty Bells, cowbells, hand bells, sleigh bells, doorbells, and chocolate bells. I put them all around our house, and rang them every time I walked by one. Finally, Christine told me: “It’s either me or the bells. They have to go.” I thought to myself, Man, I’m going to miss that woman.
Perhaps the encounters with fans that tickle me most are when I meet people who recognize me, but don’t know if I’m really Uncle Si from Duck Dynasty. It’s like my name is on the tip of their tongues. Hey, I think I’m original. If there’s a guy out there who looks like me, well, he’s a lucky man, Jack!
Last fall, my friend Phillip McMillan and I were driving to go deer hunting in Texas, and we had my grandson Brady and his son Bryson with us. We stopped at a gas station in a small town so I could use the restroom. I was hungry, so I grabbed corn chips and a bag of ice for my tea. I put the stuff on the counter and reached into my pocket for money.
One of my favorite charities is Homes of Hope for Children in Purvis, Mississippi. I love what Dr. Michael Garrett and his staff are doing for so many kids.
“May I see your ID?” the lady behind the counter said.
“What do you need my ID for?” I asked.
“I just need to see your driver’s license,” she said.
“Hey, I’m not buying liquor,” I said. “You don’t need my ID.”
“Sir, if you don’t show me your driver’s license, you can’t buy the ice or the corn chips,” she said.
I didn’t know what was going on, but I handed her my driver’s license. She looked at my ID, and then told the other lady behind the counter, “You’re right. It is Uncle Si!”
“What are you doing in this hick town?” she asked.
“Hey, I’m just trying to buy ice and corn chips,” I said.
When Christine and I were visiting my son, Scott, and his family in Virginia one time, we took our four grandsons to a giant aquarium in Virginia Beach. Hey, it was one of the coolest places I’ve ever been. You could walk under the aquarium and look up and see sharks, tuna, stingrays, crabs, SpongeBob SquarePants, dolphins, and beluga whales. After a couple of hours of looking at the fish, it was dinnertime.
We walked into the cafeteria, and Scott told me to find a table in the corner. Well, a group of about five teenagers walked in. One of them did a double take when he saw me. I was wearing blue jeans, cowboy boots, and a cowboy hat.
I heard him tell his friends, “That’s him! That’s him!”
One of his buddies said, “No, it’s not. What would he be doing in Virginia Beach?”
The kids walked up to me, and one of them said, “We know you.”
“Yeah, you probably do,” I said. “You’ve probably seen my TV show. It’s called Catch a Cow.”
“No, that’s not it,” one of the boys said. “What’s the show about?”
“Look, that’s the name of the show,” I said. “I ride a horse on the show, and I’m trying to catch a longhorn in the brush. But I never catch it because he’s so slick.”
“Nah, the show has something to do with something that flies,” said one of the boys. “It has something to do with ducks. Yeah, it’s Duck Dynasty!”
“You got me,” I said.
I spent a few minutes talking to the kids, and signed autographs and took a photo with them.
I spend a lot of days on the road appearing at speaking engagements and other events. It’s a lot of work, but it’s so much fun. Most of the people I meet are really nice, and they love our show, which makes me feel good. I try to meet as many fans as I can. If people are willing to wait in a line for four hours to get my autograph and shake my hand, then making sure they meet me is the least I can do. I love my fans, and Duck Dynasty certainly wouldn’t be anything without them.
I’ll never forget what happened during one of my appearances in South Carolina a couple of years ago. It was an outdoor event in the middle of the summer, and it was very hot and humid. Hey, it was so hot the bees were taking off their yellow jackets. After a couple of hours, people started fainting and falling out from heat exhaustion. It was so bad they had to call a few ambulances to take people to the hospital.
Well, there was a pregnant lady standing in line, and the medical people told her she had to leave. She was dehydrated, and the EMTs were worried about her and her baby. She refused to leave until she met me. So I climbed off the stage and went back to where she was sitting.
I smiled at the lady and said, “Hey, they tell me that you’re not leaving until you see me.”
“That’s right,” she told me. “You’re my favorite person on Duck Dynasty.”
“Well, I told them I’m not leaving until I get my picture taken with you,” I told her.
The lady’s eyes filled up with tears. She hugged me, and then I had a photograph taken with her. They took her to a hospital, and one of the organizers at the event later told me that she and her baby were doing fine.
I’m willing to do whatever it takes to make our fans happy. I’m a patient guy, and I think I have pretty good endurance for someone my age because I spend so much time working on Phil’s land. We’ll work on duck blinds, dams, and food plots for eight or ten hours a day in preparation for duck season. Hey, it takes a lot of work to shoot mallards out of the sky!
Of course, there have been a few Duck Dynasty fans that I’ll never forget. In July 2013, I was asked to attend the Louisiana Outdoor Expo at the Cajundome in Lafayette, which is where the University of Louisiana–Lafayette Ragin’ Cajuns play basketball. I sat at a booth and probably met more than three thousand people that day. I was supposed to sign autographs and pose for photographs for four hours, but I ended up staying two additional hours to take care of everybody.
When I was finally done with the event, I was exhausted. Hey, I’m not a young buck anymore. Phillip was with me, and he took me back to the greenroom to get ready to leave. About the time I started falling asleep on a couch, I heard a knock at the door.
Phillip looked at one of the security guards in the room and told him, “Hey, we’re done. No more pictures, and no more autographs. We were only supposed to stay for four hours and we’ve been here for six. Tell them no. I’ll be the bad guy if I have to.” Phillip wasn’t being rude; he was only looking out for me. He knew my gas tank was empty.
The security guard opened the door and talked to the people outside. Then he said, “Phillip, you have to talk to these people. Please talk to them.”
Phillip put on his game face and walked outside, closing the door behind him. There was a ten-year-old boy in the hallway, and his mom and dad told Phillip that he was dying of cancer. His parents said he was expected to live for just a few more months. They told Phillip that the only thing he wanted was to meet me. Phillip walked back into the green-room and told me, “Si, I know you’re tired. But this is a big one.” He told me about the boy.
“Bring him to me,” I said.
The boy and his parents came into the room. He was wearing blue jeans, a green camouflage shirt, and a baseball hat. I took a couple of photographs with him and signed some autographs.
“Man, where have you been?” I asked him. “I’ve been waiting for you all day long!”
I ended up spending about thirty minutes with the boy before we left to fly back to Monroe. The boy’s parents cried the entire time. I could tell they were tears of joy because they were so happy for their son. I could really feel the love in the room as I talked to him.
By the time we were ready to leave, there were probably fifteen to twenty people in the room. There were policemen, security guards, cleaning ladies, and event organizers. I stood up and told everyone, “Hey, come over here. This little man needs a powerful prayer, and we’re going to appeal to the Almighty on his behalf.”
Everybody in the room came together and held hands, and I said a prayer for the boy. Phillip told me the prayer gave him goose bumps. I prayed: “Father, we are pleading with You on behalf of this boy to spare him. You control the molecular structure of his body, Father, and we know that all things are possible through You. Oh Lord, please show him favor and give him mercy. In Jesus’ precious name we pray, amen.”
I have to admit that my voice was cracking, and I was fighting back tears as I said the prayer that night. When I finished, there wasn’t a dry eye in the room. Phillip told me later that it seemed like I was praying for my own child. Hey, as far as I’m concerned, every little girl and boy I meet is like my own. I love every one of them.
When we left the Cajundome that night, Phillip and I didn’t talk about what happened. We both knew that the Almighty would either show the boy favor or guide him home to heaven. Either way, God had His arms around him and was going to take care of him.
About two years later, I flew to south Louisiana to appear at an event with Phillip, Jase, and Godwin. We flew to an airport and then took a helicopter to the event. When we arrived at the event, there was a crowd gathered to meet us. The first person to greet us was a handsome twelve-year-old boy with a big smile on his face.
“Hey, do you remember me?” the boy asked Phillip. “You prayed for me at the Cajundome.”
“Si, do you know who this is?” Phillip asked me. “It’s the boy from Lafayette.”
Tears filled my eyes, and I walked over and hugged him. Miraculously, he had beaten cancer and was healthy again. Truthfully, I did not expect to see him again on this side of heaven. It was such a wonderful reunion, and I was so happy to see him. It was another reminder of God’s love and strength.
Skye Loustalot was a beautiful thirteen-year-old girl when I met her. She was a big Duck Dynasty fan from Semmes, Alabama, and loved to watch our show while sitting in a recliner with a big bowl of popcorn. During the summer of 2013, she was diagnosed with osteosarcoma, a bone cancer. Doctors had to amputate her right leg, and she underwent surgery to remove a mass from her abdomen.
When we learned of Skye’s illness, we made her a special video message, in which I told her how much we loved her and were praying for her. In November 2013, we met Skye at the Bay of Holy Spirit Jubilee in Fairhope, Alabama. She was very sick at the time, and the staff at University of South Alabama Children’s and Women’s Hospital arranged for her to come to the event via an ambulance.
When we met Skye, she was wearing a pink hoodie and was sitting up on a gurney. My nephew Alan, brother Phil, sister-in-law Kay, and my nephew Willie and his wife, Korie, were with me. Alan put his hands on Skye and prayed for her. He prayed, “I pray that You’ll bless her with healing and restoration. I pray for her family tonight, Father. I pray that You’ll lift them up in a very powerful way. We’re so glad to meet her, Father, please give her courage in Jesus’ name.”
Tragically, Skye died in May 2014. She was fourteen years old. I’ll never forget the courage she displayed that was so evident when we met her. More than anything, though, I’ll always remember her sweet smile, laughter, and love for her parents and brothers. I pray that the moment we spent with her took her mind off her illness and brought joy to her heart. She was such a beautiful child in so many ways.
I know it’s hard for some people to understand why there’s so much suffering in the world. It’s especially difficult to see children suffering through the pain from awful diseases like cancer. If I could take their suffering and pain away and trade places with them, I would do it in a second. Unfortunately, the only things we can do are put our arms around them and love them like Jesus.
While we might not understand why bad things happen, I know God created all things, raised Jesus from the grave, and controls everything. I know He will raise us from our graves on our last days on earth to be with Him forever. I put my trust in the Gospel of Jesus Christ and His death and resurrection. I know every one of us will eventually face death, but I trust in God and understand that He will ultimately heal us for eternity. I can’t wait to see children like Skye in heaven.