by Si Robertson
When I met your family that first time, I wanted to run in the opposite direction. You know how shy I am and that I don’t open up to people easily. It has always surprised me that you and I were able to talk as easily as we did from the very beginning.
You wanted to live near Phil, so we stayed with Phil, Kay, and Alan until we found an apartment not far from them. I understood that you had missed the hunting and fishing with Phil, but every time you went out with him, I worried. He was drinking by then, and I didn’t trust him. After about a year, you realized he was beyond your help, and we moved to Ruston, Louisiana. I knew how that hurt your heart, but I was concerned about you. When you reenlisted in the Army, I thought it was a great idea. Even though you are strong (and stubborn), I worried about Phil rubbing off you.
Do you remember the first year you were able to duck hunt in 1971? You and Phil had killed eight, but when you cleaned them, there were only seven. Jason was now three. When he came out of the bedroom the next morning, he had the duck under his arm. Evidently he had slept with it. Phil said, “There is a duck hunter in the making!” Look at Jason now!! Alan, at such a young age, told everyone he would be a minister when he grew up. And that’s exactly what he did.
When we couldn’t have children, you had so much faith! In my heart, I never believed I was worthy of children. But when I became pregnant, I knew it was a special gift from God. I was only sick twice, and everything went fine. When my contractions started and were coming every fifteen minutes, you took me to the clinic. After the exam, they told you to get me straight to the hospital. It usually takes forty minutes; you got me there in twenty. All the way there, you kept me laughing. When we were waiting for a nurse to open the door, I was still laughing. When she opened the door, she said we didn’t belong there. Both of us were shocked! She finally said, “No one who rings this bell is laughing.”
This was in the time before ultrasounds, so I had to have an X-ray. I ended up having an emergency C-section. You were there when I woke, but the only question you were able to answer was “What was the sex?” I wanted to know how much she weighed, how long she was, and what color was her hair was. You are such an observant person. NOT!! Trasa was born on Saturday night, but you were in the midst of a huge inspection, so you had to return to base. I’m a military wife, and I understood that spouses have to do some things alone. You were allowed to return to the hospital to sign some papers; then you had to return to base. Trasa and I were discharged on Friday, but you were not allowed to come get us.
Our home was always full of love and laughter, but with the addition of our beautiful daughter, it was even more so.
Mom had always told me to be careful how I worded prayer. When we prayed for patience, we had no idea how God would answer. You always say that God has a sense of humor. We sure learned patience when we had our son. Due to complications in my pregnancy with Scott, our family was split up. Trasa was sent to my parents in Kentucky, you were at Fort Polk, and I was in Texas. We had so many people praying for us from three different states.
In our time together, we have seen God’s work in so many ways. Before I knew you, my dad was the only man I loved and respected. Girls often marry men like their dads. God was first in Dad’s life. He also loved Mom and didn’t care who knew it. I have been so blessed by having you in my life. Because of you, I have reached the brass ring! Life with you has never been boring or mundane.
May God continue to keep you in the palm of His hand. I love everything about you and would never change anything. I’m also proud that you are now sharing your laughter and love of God with many, many people. You are awesome!
A Letter to Si from His Daughter, Trasa
When I think of you, the first word that springs to mind is “faith.” You have always been so committed to God and the Church, and that definitely rubbed off on me. The years of attending church three times weekly never seemed a burden, because you made sure we knew it was the right thing to do. I learned Scripture, first by hearing it from you and then by reading it on my own. I learned so much from God’s Word. I used to wake up early some mornings and memorize pieces like the Sermon on the Mount so I could be an educated Christian. That habit has continued into my adult life, and I often turn to the Bible in times of trouble and of thanksgiving. That basis, that rock, which you gave me during my childhood, has led me to be the strong Christian woman I am today.
The second word about you that wells up is “nature.” You love the outdoors and all the natural gifts the world has to offer. Because of your family’s background, hunting and fishing are like breathing to you. But many were the times that we would sit together and you would point out the wildlife all around us—a bunny rabbit there, here a hawk with talons extended to catch a meal, sometimes a deer as its eyes reflected green in the passing headlights. I enjoyed those times immensely as you shared your wisdom about nature.
Of course, I couldn’t forget to thank you for my great love of food! As anyone who knows me will attest, I am an eater. And I’m not one of those dainty, waifish girls, either—despite my history of modeling. On our first official date, when my future husband Kyle asked me if he could cook me dinner, he asked what I’d like. He expected me to say, “Oh, a salad,” or “Whatever you’d like to make.” Instead, I definitively stated, “I’d love a steak and a baked potato.” That part of me surely comes straight from you—as well as my love for all kinds of meats. Yep, I’m quite the carnivore. As I told a friend recently, squirrel is still the best meat I’ve ever eaten—but the stinkin’ critters are just too small! It takes a dozen just to feed two people!
Seriously, though, a lot of my political perceptions were formed at your knee. I still believe in gun rights for hunters and also for constitutional guarantees against governmental recklessness. I believe that people are more important than things or animals. And I believe that the right to life is sacred, from conception to natural death.
Thank you for helping form me into the person I’ve become. I am a physically confident, emotionally mature, intellectually gifted human being, and am so blessed by God in this life with my adoring husband and beautiful sons. I could not be happier in my life.
I love you, Dad.
A Letter to Si from His Son, Scott
When I think back to my childhood, I have so many memories. I remember watching you and Trasa clean squirrels and helping y’all once I got big enough. I remember you dressing up in costumes like the big rabbit. I remember you taking me deer hunting with you in Germany. I must have driven you crazy that day with all my fidgeting. You so wanted me to get a deer and maybe share that experience of your childhood. I simply loved the fact that I got to spend a day with my dad. I watched you and listened to you more than you knew. I picked up your love of the land and being in the woods simply from watching how you moved and the different trees you pointed out.
I remember when you took me along on the wild boar hunt in Germany. I found out later I was going to be a beater, and not with you. So there I was crawling around this thick brush on the side of a mountain making a lot of noise (which I have to say I enjoyed) to drive the animal toward the hunters. The gentleman with me had a pistol, which got me thinking, What happens if the boar doesn’t beat it like he’s supposed to? The gentleman with the pistol said I shouldn’t worry about that, as it’s very rare that the boars come at the beaters. I have to say I was not very reassured. When we finally got to stand up, I was relieved, only to find that, after walking a short distance, we had to do it again at a different location.
I remember you taking me with you for your duck hunting vacation in Louisiana when I was in the fifth grade, and fishing at night with cane poles and a lantern on the Ouachita River.
I remember when we took a family trip to Bavaria and Mom and Trasa got lost. You remained quite calm, in spite of all my questions of “What if?” I remember you reviewing the short sermon that I gave at the church we attended in Pirmasens and helping me get over my first-time jitters.
I look back at the conversations we had when I was a hardheaded teenager. I remember the heated discussions we had where you were just trying to steer me in the right direction, maybe away from mistakes you made. I remember that you wanted me to go to college, and I wanted to join the military. I thought I had my points all lined up for the discussion and that you would understand. Needless to say, the conversation didn’t quite go as I’d planned, and we agreed to disagree. I can’t describe to you how I felt when I came back from AIT as a soldier, and you told me that I had made the right choice. I remember you telling me that the only things I can control—something I came into this world with and will leave with—is the value of my word.
Dad, there are so many things I remember, and you are threaded through them all. I remember you telling me how much smarter your father got as you got older. I have to say I never thought you didn’t know what you were talking about, though I can’t say I understood as a child what I understand now as a parent myself. I look back to your words then and find myself applying them now when I hit a bump in the road of life. I have to say I am amazed at the level of patience you possessed then and now. I consider myself blessed that I had the parents I did. No one is perfect, but y’all are the perfect ones for me.
You are and always have been the rock this family holds to. Your faith in God as I grew up showed me that we might not always have the answers and that was okay, because God was in charge and would always take care of us. I love you, Dad, and will consider myself lucky if I grow up to be half the man you are.
Blessed is the man who does not walk in the counsel of the wicked or stand in the way of the sinners or sit in the seat of mockers. But his Delight is in the law of the Lord, and on his law he meditates day and night. He is like a tree planted by streams of water, which yields its fruit in season and whose leaf does not whither. Whatever he does prospers.—Psalms 1:1–3
THANKS TO MY MOM and dad for raising me and introducing me to Jesus Christ and for encouraging my love for hunting and fishing. Thanks to Mark Schlabach for taking my stories and putting them all together to show my journey so far. Thanks to Philis Boultinghouse, Amanda Demastus, and our friends at Howard Books. Thanks to Phil and Kay and their family for being there for all of my life. Thanks to Alan for helping with the book. Thanks to John Howard for his help. Thanks to my poker buddies for keeping me sane. Thanks to Trasa, Kyle, Scott, and Marsha for making me proud and giving me eight wonderful grandsons. Finally, thanks to my wife, Christine, that redhead who has kept life interesting for the past forty-three years.
SI ROBERTSON is Phil’s youngest brother, best friend, and partner in crime. He started his film career with the Duckmen DVDs as well as the Duck Commander TV show. Si has worked and hunted for Duck Commander since retiring from the army in 1993. His current job in the Duck Commander workshop is being in charge of making the reeds that are inserted in every duck call. It’s a pretty easy job, made needlessly difficult by the fact that Si can never seem to stay on task. The Vietnam vet often shares his war stories with the guys, which usually gets the crew behind schedule, much to Willie’s dismay. Si helps Phil take care of the land, and of course, when duck season rolls around, you’ll find him out in the blind. Si and his wife, Christine, have been married for forty-three years and live in West Monroe, Louisiana. They have two adult children, Trasa and Scott, and eight grandchildren—all boys!
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Copyright © 2013 by Si Robertson
Scripture quotations are taken from THE HOLY BIBLE, NEW INTERNATIONAL VERSION®, NIV® Copyright © 1973, 1978, 1984, 2011 by Biblica, Inc.® Used by permission of Biblica, Inc.® All rights reserved worldwide.
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First Howard Books hardcover edition September 2013
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Designed by Davina Mock-Maniscalco
Jacket design by Bruce Gore
Front jacket & author photograph by Art Streiber/A&E A&E Networks
All other cover photographs by iStock/Getty Images
Duck Dynasty and the A&E logo are trademarks of A&E Television Networks, LLC
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Robertson, Si, 1948–
Si-cology 101 : tales and wisdom from Duck Dynasty’s favorite uncle / Si Robertson. —1st Howard Books hardcover edition.
pages cm
1. Robertson, Si, 1948– 2. Television personalities—United States—Biography. I. Title.
PN1992.4.R5355A3 2013
791.4502'8092—dc232013018290
[B]
ISBN 978-1-4767-4537-4
ISBN 978-1-4767-4539-8 (ebook)