You don’t have to be a fan of the long-running A&E show Duck Dynasty to know who Sadie Robertson is. The 18-year-old has-been on Dancing with the Stars, is an author, and has been working with designer Sherri Hill for a few years. It seems like everywhere that I look, Robertson is slaying the scene. One of the things that Robertson is most known for, however, is her relationship with Alabama native, Blake Coward. Robertson and Coward apparently met at one of Coward’s baseball games when he was playing for the Madison Academy Mustangs. Robertson was reportedly at the game visiting a relative at the school when Coward asked her for a picture. The rest was history.
Fans instantly fell in love with Sadie and Blake’s relationship. The comments on Instagram usually revolved around how perfect they were together and how they were “relationship goals.” One of the things that always set their relationship apart was how open the two were about their dedication to putting God first in their relationship. Robertson even did interviews discussing her boundaries with dating and how the two were devoted to staying pure. I think it was safe to say that a lot of teenagers looked up to their relationship as what they wanted to have. After Sadie’s brother, John Luke, got married, and her sister, Rebekkah, got engaged, most fans assumed that Sadie and Blake would be the next to announce big plans for the future. They did have an announcement, but it was not what most had in mind.
Fans were heartbroken after it was announced that the two had split after having been in a relationship for two years. In typical Sadie Robertson fashion, she decided to take a hard point in her life and use it as an example. On April 13, 2016, Sadie posted a video to her YouTube channel simply titled “the breakup.” She starts off the video by saying “This is not going to be fun, this is not going to be easy, but that’s how a breakup is.” I am not going to sit here and summarize the video because it is an amazing video that I highly recommend everyone going and watching. Basically, she sits down and says that she is going through a hard time with a breakup and she knows that she isn’t the only one. She shares what she has learned over her time after the breakup about not being bitter in hopes of helping others.
One of the things that stuck out to me about her video was the way she talked about Blake. She talked about how great he is, even going as far as saying, “I love him and if I’m not the right girl for him then whoever ends up with him is one lucky girl.” She talks about how it isn’t easy, but that she has learned that it is a choice to be happy that she is being pulled closer to the person God intends for her. She talks about choosing not to be bitter when it is easy to be. I think Sadie brought a beautiful message about a difficult topic that I’m sure most people have experienced at one point or another.
Another thing that made the video so different from every other video on the internet was how at the end of the video she looked at the camera and said a public prayer for every heart out there. In all of her difficulty, she turned the light to God and his plan. Sadie invited her fans to share in a difficult point in her life in hopes that she might be able to help them in a difficult point in their life. Her Instagram is currently filled with comments about fans bad relationships. I decided to take a moment and read through some of the comments on her YouTube video and the response was incredible. So many people poured their hearts out through their computer screens to share their stories and join Sadie in her time of dealing with this pain.
I must admit, I was someone who personally enjoyed watching Sadie and Blake’s relationship pop up on my Instagram. I was the fan that liked every one of their pictures. I was the fan that had hearts in their eyes at every sappy relationship post. I was the fan who went crazy when Sadie announced that she had caught the bouquet at Blake’s sister’s wedding earlier in the year. I wanted everything for them in their relationship. I may not know Blake or Sadie personally, but through their openness with fans, I feel like I have gotten to see them in their ups and through this I got to see them in their downs. I don’t know what the future holds for either of them, but I do know that whoever they end up with will be amazing. I look forward to getting to watch those relationships on my Instagram. I know they will be beautiful.
