The Duck Commander Family (21 page)

We could not take those two anywhere. They were born with the full confidence that they knew exactly where they were going when their legs hit the floor, and they were off. I couldn’t keep up with them. I never put them on a leash, but I probably should have. I carried them as much as I could, one on each hip. People would say, “How do you do that?” I told them it was better than the alternative; if I put them down, they would both go in different directions and it was all over. Keeping them on my hip was the only way I could stay in control. Once they got too big for me to carry, I would make them hold my hand. They would try so hard to squirm out of my hand, but I would just squeeze and make them hang on.

Korie says that once she could tell all the kids, “Go brush your teeth and put your PJs on,” and they could actually do it by themselves, she knew we would survive! For a while there, she was so consumed with babies that I don’t know how she did anything else. But she did. We would end up most nights
with at least three of the four kids in our bed. Our rule was that none of the kids could start out in the bed with us, but if they woke up in the night, they could come get in our bed. This was very different than when I was growing up. We would have never climbed in bed with our parents. Phil was not the snuggling type. But it was fun waking up to all the love and laughter, even if our backs suffered for it. Our babies were growing along with the Duck Commander business and our website, and I was starting to do some traveling with Dad for his speaking engagements. It was busy, but it was fun! I loved watching the kids change and grow into their own unique little people.

Korie:
We have one more daughter who came to us from a unique place. Growing up, our family traveled a lot and I always thought it was important for kids to experience different cultures and learn from people who grew up differently than them. Of course, it’s tough to travel with four little ones, so I thought I would bring someone to us. We decided to take in an exchange student. I didn’t know at the time she would become such an awesome big sister to our kids and we would become her American family forever and always.

Rebecca Ann Lo joined our family when she was sixteen years old. She came as an exchange student from Taiwan and must have wondered what she’d gotten herself into joining a family of bearded men who hunted for a living. She was the youngest of four in her family in Taiwan, but when she joined our home, she became the oldest. Also, she lost her
father at a young age and I think having a strong father figure in Willie really helped her growth. Our kids were young when Rebecca joined us in the summer of 2004, and they were so excited to welcome her into our family. We made signs welcoming her to America, and when she stepped off the plane, the kids could barely contain their excitement. Will hid behind a chair because he just didn’t know what to do. Bella went up and held her hand, and John Luke and Sadie started talking a hundred miles an hour. They had a new playmate and were eager to tell her everything there was to know about our family. We quickly realized she couldn’t understand a word we said!

She had learned some English in school in Taiwan, but with our Southern accents, Rebecca just could not understand us. Somehow she and I figured out how to communicate, and we bonded. She stuck to me like glue for a while. If someone asked her a question, she would look to me to answer. I read her children’s books at night and taught her English through reading the menus at restaurants! I remember the first day I took her to school; I literally had to pry her fingers off my arm. It was like having another kindergartener. She was scared to death. But by the end of the school year, she was speaking English well, with even a little bit of a Louisianan accent. And we fell in love with her and didn’t want her to leave. We told her that if she wanted to come back for her senior year,
she was more than welcome. Her mom said no at first. She had, of course, missed her daughter and wanted her to come home. But a few weeks before the next school year started, Rebecca called and said excitedly, “Mom said I can come!” She booked her plane ticket back to Louisiana and has been here ever since.

When Rebecca came to live with us, everybody thought I looked like Johnny Damon, an outfielder with the Boston Red Sox, who had a big ol’ beard. Korie’s dad, Johnny, even gave me a life-size cutout of Damon, which I kept in my office. Well, that entire first year that Rebecca lived with us, I told her I used to be a professional baseball player. She went to a party for foreign exchange students and told everyone that I was an ex–Major League Baseball player! She kept telling everyone, “Willie is very famous.” She thought it was the coolest thing and even told her mother and sister I was famous. I finally broke the news to Rebecca that I wasn’t really a baseball player. Fortunately, she still loved me anyway. I can only imagine her family’s surprise when they went on the Internet and found out whom she was really living with!

After Duck Commander signed a licensing deal with Weaver, which makes rifle and shotgun optical scopes, I wanted to tour their manufacturing center in Taiwan. We took Rebecca as our translator and toured Taiwan. I promised Rebecca I would eat something weird while I was there. I took a small bite of fried chicken feet, but there wasn’t any meat. I’m not sure how the Taiwanese eat those. It’s a chicken’s foot.
I couldn’t stomach eating the century egg, which is another Chinese tradition. They preserve duck, chicken, or quail eggs in a mixture of clay, ash, salt, lime, and rice hulls for several months. The egg yolk turns dark green and smells like ammonia. I’ve eaten some pretty crazy stuff in my life, but that wasn’t one of them!

Rebecca’s mom and sister came to visit us for a couple of weeks one time, and her mom cooked delicious Taiwanese food for us. Rebecca has been back to Taiwan a couple of times to visit her family there. But we are her American mom and dad. We are family. She graduated from Louisiana State University with a bachelor’s degree in fashion design and merchandising, and we are so proud of everything she has accomplished. More important, we are proud of the beautiful Christian lady she has become and the great big sister she has been to our kids. We love her and are thankful God saw fit to place her in our home.

12

C
HILDREN, OBEY YOUR PARENTS IN THE
L
ORD, FOR THIS IS RIGHT.
“H
ONOR YOUR FATHER AND MOTHER”—WHICH IS THE FIRST COMMANDMENT WITH A PROMISE—“SO THAT IT MAY GO WELL WITH YOU AND THAT YOU MAY ENJOY LONG LIFE ON THE EARTH.
”

—E
PHESIANS
6:1–3

K
orie:
After people watch
Duck Dynasty,
I often get comments on Twitter and from fans that I come into contact with about how well-mannered our kids are. In the South, traditionally children are expected to say “Yes, ma’am” and “No, sir” to adults. It’s important for children to show respect for their elders, but I’m afraid that even in the South, that is something that is fading from our society. I’m really proud of our kids for the way they behave, the way they act toward adults, and their manners in general.

When the
Duck Dynasty
crew was here filming the scene where Phil had our kids clean up an area of his land to make a football field, I think the crew members expected our kids to be griping and complaining about having to do it. But our kids would never do that, at least not within earshot of their papaw Phil. Even if they didn’t want to do it, they would never complain
to their grandfather if he asked them to do something. That’s not the way they were raised.

In the Robertson house, kids are expected to fit in with the family and do what the family does. Whenever I need the kids to do something, I always say, “All right, kids, it’s family cleanup time,” “family wash-the-car time,” or “family clean-out-the-garage time.” You get the idea. When I announce “family time,” everyone is expected to join in. It’s nonnegotiable, and you don’t get paid for it. You just do it, because you are part of the family.