The Women of Duck Commander (20 page)

Mamaw Jo can do anything. When my mom was growing up, Mamaw Jo sewed all of her clothes. She is quite a seamstress, and she cooks delicious meals, but her abilities go beyond her domestic skills. Now in her mideighties, she still owns and runs her own real estate business, as she has for years.

She and my grandfather, whom we called “Papaw Shack,” lived in Shreveport when I was young, and I always enjoyed going to visit them. When I went, she made sure to have all of my favorite things. I love ice cream, and she made me homemade hot fudge sauce that was to die for.

I also remember her teaching me old-timey songs and playing “the Song Game,” which I still play with my own kids. Here’s how it goes: One person says a word and everyone else has to think of a song with that word in it. The first person unable to sing a song containing that word loses. Mamaw rarely loses at this game. She knows a lot of songs!

Mamaw Jo always made things fun and magical. She used to tell us she could make the traffic light change with magic. When we pulled up to a red light, she would recite this poem: “Rotten tomatoes and old tin cans, light on the corner of Main Street [or whatever street we were on], turn green, shazam!” And as soon as she said, “shazam!” the light would magically turn green!

Mamaw Jo has always been a strong lady. She’s definitely not the kind of grandmother who will let you win at a game just because you are a kid; she wants you to earn the victory. She’s a competitive Scrabble player, and when I was growing up, she and I played games all the time, everything from checkers to Old Maid. She beat me often! Now, carrying on the family tradition, Bella loves to go over to Mamaw Jo’s house for late-night games of Uno, and they keep a running tally of who has won the most. She is so proud of each of her grandchildren and great-grandchildren and makes sure we all know it!

Mamaw’s husband, Papaw Shack, always had a hug and a kind word for everyone. He passed away in 2008, and I still often meet people who tell me how much my papaw Shack meant to them. He worked hard all his life; his dad left his family when he was a young boy, and he worked as a janitor in his school when he was just in middle school. He said they were “so poor they couldn’t pay attention.” He loved his family and everything he did was for them.

My cousins and I know Papaw was our biggest supporter. He loved basketball. In fact, during World War II, he was on a team for the marines, a group that played exhibition games to boost the morale of the troops. That turned out to boost his morale, too, because he met my mamaw when he was a basketball player and she was a cheerleader. Papaw attended every one of his grandchildren’s basketball games, but he also loved to hear about everything else we had going on. He wrote sweet notes to me, often encouraging me and telling me how proud he was of me. His family and his faith were his life.

Mamaw and Papaw Shack loved each other dearly. Anyone could tell each was the other’s best friend. They worked together in their
real estate business and enjoyed the simple blessings of life, such as waking up early, having coffee, and reading the paper together. When Mamaw Jo and Papaw Shack had people over for a meal, she was the cook, but Papaw always helped her with the dishes afterward. They were a great team, and I am thankful to have had that example of a husband and wife working together. It’s something Willie and I have emulated, only he’s the one doing the cooking, and I’m the one doing the dishes. I am so blessed to have had my papaw as my grandfather and to still have Mamaw Jo in my life today.

G
RANNY AND
P
A
R
OBERTSON

I treasure who my grandparents were and who my mamaw Jo still is; I also appreciate having the chance to know Willie’s grandparents, Granny and Pa. They lived close to Phil and Miss Kay for many years when Willie and I were dating, but they had to move away because their little house on the river suffered major flood damage. The house was old before the flood, and after the water got in it, it simply was not worth saving. Granny and Pa moved to Shreveport to live with Phil’s sister, and except for holidays we did not see them nearly as much as we had in years past.

Granny really enjoyed making quilts, and not long after Willie and I married, she offered to make me one. This was during the time when the “country Americana” theme was popular and I found a design I wanted. It included red, blue, and black-and-white-checked fabric. She said the black-and-white check nearly caused her to go blind, but she made the quilt for us, along with a dust ruffle and
pillows to go with it. I loved it and used it on our bed for the first couple of years of our married life.

Willie and I had a special visit from Granny the year Bella was born—on Granny’s ninety-second birthday. Granny loved the thought of sharing a birthday with a great-grandchild, and she offered to come “help” with the new baby. Now, remember, she was ninety-two, so she wasn’t much help, but I will cherish the memories of that time forever. She gave me advice on taking care of a newborn (even though I already had three babies) and helped as much as she could. We sat and talked and loved on little Bella those first few days of her life. Granny had made Sadie a quilt when she was born, and she crocheted a blanket for Bella.

Pa passed away not long after Willie and I married, so he did not ever know our children, but I will never forget his funeral. It was in the small country church he and Granny attended when Phil was young, and the congregation that day was full of bearded men! We sang a lot of old songs and hymns, and all the men sang at the tops of their lungs. Many kind words were said about Pa, and since the Robertsons can always laugh at themselves, even the funeral included funny stories. That day, I felt taken back in time to a different era, and I could sense the strength of the community that Granny and Pa enjoyed and the hard work it took for them to keep their family together.

Through it all, Granny and Pa stuck together, through good times and bad, for richer or poorer. When I attended Pa’s funeral, I could sense the roots of the Robertson family and the foundation that made Phil who he is, which in turn made Willie the man he has become. That’s how generations work, so I believe those same good qualities—along with characteristics of the Howards and Shackelfords—are in my children too.

M
Y
M
OM AND
D
AD

Willie and I both have deep roots in Louisiana. Both sets of my grandparents have lived in the state for years, just as Granny and Pa did. Willie and I currently live on some property my grandfather once owned. Members of my extended family have lived close together, on the same street, for generations. Now my parents, Johnny and Chrys Howard, live right next door to Willie and me—and we did that on purpose! I love living so close to them, and I do not take that blessing for granted. My parents are always there for me, and with the busy lives and unusual schedules Willie and I have, that is so helpful. Besides Willie and me, they are our children’s biggest cheerleaders, and they never—I mean
never
—miss an activity our kids are involved in. They are such an integral part of our children’s lives, and all our kids know they can count on them or turn to them for help, no matter what they want or need.

The kids—mine and Willie’s, those who belong to everyone else in the family, and even close friends—call my parents “Two-Mama” and “Two-Papa.” There’s a great story behind those names.

John Luke and Sadie are only twenty months apart in age. When I was twenty-six weeks pregnant with Sadie, I went into
premature labor. The doctors were able to stop the labor but placed many restrictions on what I could do. The same thing happened again when I was about thirty-one weeks along, so I went on bed rest for about five weeks. At that time, John Luke was only a year and a half old and was busy, busy, busy. My mom had to help out a lot, and he loved being with her.

At only about eighteen months old, John Luke was not saying many words, but he could definitely say “Mama,” so during this time he called both my mom and me “Mama.” We tried to figure out another name for him to call Mom, but nothing stuck.

One day, after Sadie was born, I was driving with him in the car and he kept saying he wanted mama. I said, “Mama is right here,” and he said, “No, Two-Mama.” I realized he was asking for my mom. He has called her Two-Mama ever since, so we dubbed my dad Two-Papa. They are the best grandparents you can imagine. All of our kids, plus the other Robertson kids and many close friends of the family, love Two-Mama and Two-Papa.

God has really blessed me with an awesome family, not just with Willie and our kids, but throughout many generations. Our kids are not all old enough to fully understand and articulate the amazing legacy they have, but they definitely get it and appreciate it. I pray and believe they will carry on our family’s faith, good qualities, and ability to make a difference for God for the rest of their lives.

20

GENERATIONAL BLESSINGS

Missy

When I think of generations, I think about the legacy and influence the people in each generation pass to the next one. Jase and I started dating when we were very young and had the opportunity to basically grow into adulthood together. Because of this, we have shared many “firsts” together. When our dating relationship started to become more serious, we made a commitment to stay sexually pure until our wedding night. Each of us had this goal before we started dating, but when we fell in love, that goal became one for each other as well. I knew that God expected this purity from His children, and I trusted God enough, even at my young age, to understand that His way was the best way. Jase and I reached our goal after dating two years, ten months, and two days. But who’s counting? We were! Whew! We made it!

That night was the first sexual experience either of us had ever had, and we have only known each other since then. Being pure
and faithful to each other and to God is a top priority for us to this day. Our decision to remain pure is something we have not been silent to our children about. The older we get and the older our children get, the more we realize how hard accomplishing that was and still is for kids today. We built our relationship on a spiritual foundation many years ago, and we feel a great responsibility to pass that spiritual foundation on to our children. At the time of this writing, our oldest child, Reed, is eighteen; Cole is sixteen; and Mia is ten.

P
REPARING FOR A
N
EW
G
ENERATION

When Jase and I married, we decided to wait a few years before having children. We wanted to spend this time together, just the two of us, before starting a family. We also wanted to prepare as best we could before starting to raise another human being. We felt like this was a huge responsibility. Once we began contemplating starting our family, I went to as many Christian parenting classes as I could find. We are blessed with many qualified and talented speakers in our church, and I was there every time the doors were open.

During one of those classes, a lady I still admire greatly said, “The best gift you can give your children is to love your husband.” I first heard this when I was pregnant with Reed but have kept it close to my heart for the past eighteen years. I can honestly say my kids are confident in the fact that their mom and dad are completely
committed to each other and to God, no matter what circumstance we face.

Since we have been in the limelight of
Duck Dynasty,
many women have approached Jase in person and on social media. However, because of his commitment to his Creator and to me, our family has become even stronger. Jase tells me almost every day how beautiful I am. He tells our teenage boys in front of me, “Your mama is one hot-lookin’ woman!” They just laugh. No matter how difficult a situation may become, neither Jase nor I is going anywhere.

Our kids are also confident that their parents try to make decisions from a spiritual point of view. This doesn’t mean we succeed every time, but our kids know, without a doubt, that we love God more than anything else in the world. When we fail, we have a Savior who forgives us and encourages us to try again. We try to do the same with our kids. When they fail, we are disappointed, but we try to show them that they are forgiven and encourage them to get back up and keep going. Living a spiritual life with God at the forefront is top priority for me, and passing that on to my children is my ultimate goal. I thank God for the previous generations who have influenced both Jase and me in this regard.