“I think our culture needs more grandpas riding along with grandson and girlfriend.”
—Grandpa Phil Robertson, Duck Commander, Swamp Date Captain
Today’s story is about John Luke Robertson of Duck Dynasty.
John Luke Robertson is one lucky kid. He is the heir to the Duck Dynasty fortune. He regularly appears on the family’s wildly popular TV show. And he is smitten with Emily, his first real girlfriend.
Duck Dynasty Dudes: (l-r) Phil Robertson (Grandpa, patriarch and founder of the Duck Commander company), Jase Robertson (Phil’s son, in charge of manufacturing), “Uncle Si” (Phil’s brother who makes reeds for the company’s famous hand-crafted duck calls), and Willie Robertson (Phil’s son and Duck Commander CEO–also John Luke’s Dad).
Photo courtesy of A&E.
At 14, he’s not old enough to drive — a car, that is. An alternative? Grandpa’s boat. A young man with a plan. A fishing date, deep in the swamp. True bayou romance. Alone with Emily. A chance to get close.
“Tell you what — I’ll take ya’ll fishin’,” Grandpa Phil says.
Uh oh. Clearly a misunderstanding. Not what John Luke had just asked. But how do you argue with a man cleaning his gun? And so an awkward fishing date ensues. John Luke. Emily. Grandpa Phil at the helm.
John Luke may be young, but he’s smart and intuitive, like the rest of his clan. As he and Emily sit back in the boat, he can sense what might come next…
Grandpa speaks up. “When you’re young, all you hear on television and the Internet is ‘sex’ ‘sex’ ‘sex’…”
Intuition confirmed, thinks John Luke. Worse than I thought. But Grandpa goes on. “But don’t even entertain that thought,”
(l-r) Willie, Si and Jase out in the field.
Photo courtesy of A&E.
Ok Grandpa. Please, not another word… But Grandpa goes on. “Herpes, gonorrhea, syphilis.”
Emily smiles bashfully. John Luke’s arm is draped around her shoulders. Grandpa lowers his gaze, peering above the dark glasses. He eyes that arm with purpose. John Luke draws it away.
And Grandpa goes on. “Now John Luke, don’t touch her beneath the neck until you sign on the dotted line.”
Now imagine you’re John Luke. Or Emily. Age 14. A warning on sex, disease, marriage… from a bearded ole grandpa on a first date. The saga resumes…
Back home, Grandpa insists on teaching the lovebirds how to clean a big mouth bass he caught on their “date.”
Dagger through the ribs.
Hands scoop out the innards.
Grandma, Miss Kay, joins in.
Emily struggles to hide her disgust.
Grandpa turns to the couple, cleaned bass in hand, “Now this is romantic,” he says.
Duck Dynasty. It’s America’s number one show. But why? Entertainment value. Yes. But there’s more. Family values. Three generations of fathers and sons. Working together to build a multi-million dollar business selling — duck calls. The Robertsons have it all. Wealth, and with the show, certainly, fame.
But in a way, not much has changed. They hunt together, work together, eat together. Every night they come together at Grandpa Phil’s dinner table. Hand-in-hand, they say the evening prayer.
Fathers & sons. Swamp dates with Grandpa. Gutting a bass. Lectures on sex.
Duck Dynasty. The heart of this show? Family not fame. They don’t play life’s crazy game.
In his book, Happy, Happy, Happy, Grandpa Phil explains: “I miss the times when life was simple. When I was a young boy growing up in the far northwest corner of Louisiana … we didn’t have very much in terms of personal possessions.”
“We never had new cars, nice clothes, or much money, and we certainly never lived in an extravagant home, but we were always happy, happy, happy, no matter the circumstances. My daddy, James Robertson, was that kind of a guy. He didn’t care about all the frills in life; he was perfectly content with what we had and so were we.”
And therein it lies. Modern day hustle. Tech crazy world. Stress to succeed.
When you look back what will you treasure?
