She Wrote the Words on the National Police Memorial — Here's Why | Part 2
In Part 1, Vivian Eney Cross revealed how her husband — U.S. Capitol Police Sergeant Chris Eney — was killed in a 1984 training accident, and how the system failed her completely in the aftermath. In Part 2, we hear the rest of the story.
Vivian finally learns the full circumstances of how Chris died: the abandoned Capitol Hill building, the zigzag stairwells, the training drill that went wrong in a single unguarded moment. With remarkable grace, she describes forgiving the officer who fired the shot — and meaning it. From there, the conversation moves to the National Law Enforcement Officers Memorial itself. Vivian reveals how she argued for the lions over the eagles, why a children's book called Chronicles of Narnia shaped that decision, and how the inscription now etched into the memorial wall came to her in an instant — not researched, not labored over.
The episode closes with two moments that bring everything full circle: an active-duty officer standing at the memorial wall, tears streaming down his face, telling Vivian "you're the one that let me know I don't have to die to be appreciated" — and Craig Floyd spotting Vivian on a Washington street 33 years after their first difficult phone call, the day the National Law Enforcement Museum was dedicated.
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Transcript
My daughter Heather got up
Speaker:the day that Chris was killed.
Speaker:There on the kitchen
Speaker:table were two erasers
Speaker:that Chris had gotten her
Speaker:for her brand new chalkboard.
Speaker:So she sat down and
Speaker:wrote this thank you letter,
Speaker:thanking him for getting them for her.
Speaker:And of course he never got the letter.
Speaker:He was killed that day.
Speaker:And if you fast forward
Speaker:maybe four or five years later
Speaker:and we're in the car and Heather says,
Speaker:mom, you got to listen to this song.
Speaker:And she turned it up
Speaker:and I'm aging myself.
Speaker:It was Mike and the
Speaker:mechanics, the living years.
Speaker:And the voice came on,
Speaker:the verse came on that said,
Speaker:I wasn't home that
Speaker:morning, my father passed away.
Speaker:I didn't get to tell him
Speaker:all the things I had to say.
Speaker:And so I grabbed her hand and I said,
Speaker:well Heather, what would
Speaker:you have said to your dad?
Speaker:And she said, I would have
Speaker:asked him to watch over me.
Speaker:I would have asked him
Speaker:to love me every day,
Speaker:but I would have
Speaker:thanked him for my erasers.
Speaker:And with that, she started to cry.
Speaker:And so I held her hand and we got to
Speaker:where we were going.
Speaker:But when I got back to the house,
Speaker:I called another survivor who knew
Speaker:what those moments were like,
Speaker:who would talk me through it,
Speaker:not pity me, pity is a wasted emotion.
Speaker:Just help me be and do
Speaker:what I need to for myself
Speaker:and my girls and others
Speaker:that are going through this.
Speaker:And so it's just this
Speaker:camaraderie that is based on
Speaker:an event that ties
Speaker:you together completely.
Speaker:That moment in the car with Heather
Speaker:happened years after Chris was gone.
Speaker:But to understand why it hit so hard,
Speaker:we have to go back to
Speaker:the day Vivian learned
Speaker:exactly how her husband died.
Speaker:So Vivian, we've talked
Speaker:about Chris quite a bit,
Speaker:but we still haven't talked about
Speaker:what actually happened to Chris.
Speaker:Okay, it was funny.
Speaker:At the time I was told
Speaker:that nobody could talk to me.
Speaker:They were told nobody
Speaker:could talk to me about it.
Speaker:And then they told me that
Speaker:the grand jury had to meet
Speaker:before anything could happen.
Speaker:I don't know what that was about,
Speaker:unless somebody on
Speaker:the grand jury thought,
Speaker:oh, she was going with
Speaker:this guy that shot him
Speaker:and they've made this deal
Speaker:to get him out of the way
Speaker:so that they could continue.
Speaker:Now that was what I was
Speaker:told was the reason behind it.
Speaker:But it was 10 months
Speaker:before I got any payment.
Speaker:But I mean, right away, like
Speaker:they came and picked you up
Speaker:and you went to the hospital
Speaker:and all that kind of stuff.
Speaker:But how soon did you
Speaker:know the cause of death
Speaker:and the circumstances
Speaker:surrounding it and whatnot?
Speaker:It was a while before I heard.
Speaker:Finally, one of the
Speaker:officers from the CERT team
Speaker:came over to my house on his
Speaker:own and told me how it happened.
Speaker:They were training in an abandoned
Speaker:building on Capitol Hill.
Speaker:The elevators were taken out.
Speaker:So when you went up the different levels,
Speaker:you would have a set
Speaker:of stairs on the left,
Speaker:go across the floor
Speaker:and have the other stairs
Speaker:up to the next floor.
Speaker:So it was a kind of a
Speaker:zigzag way to get out.
Speaker:Well, they had been training on,
Speaker:I believe it's the
Speaker:third and fourth floors.
Speaker:They were doing training if
Speaker:there is an active shooter
Speaker:in one of the rooms of Congress,
Speaker:how do we go in to get him out or her out
Speaker:with as little danger to
Speaker:the people there as possible?
Speaker:And so they were practicing that.
Speaker:Well, in the meantime, the one officer
Speaker:went up to change his
Speaker:clothes and go home,
Speaker:where about 20 of them
Speaker:stayed on the floor they were on
Speaker:and continued talking
Speaker:about the scenarios.
Speaker:Well, he went up there, he changed,
Speaker:he's required to wear his loaded gun
Speaker:and he came down the stairs.
Speaker:And as he walked the
Speaker:cross, he got caught up
Speaker:and when they were arguing about the
Speaker:different scenarios.
Speaker:And so finally Chris said,
Speaker:okay, we'll do it one more time
Speaker:and you, you and you come in on me.
Speaker:And he chose the one
Speaker:gentleman that had changed his clothes
Speaker:and reloaded and without
Speaker:thought he fired the shot.
Speaker:And he was also Chris's friend.
Speaker:I never had any animosity toward him.
Speaker:We're all human.
Speaker:We all make mistakes.
Speaker:And when officers are
Speaker:involved in this kind of incident,
Speaker:you know they are shattered
Speaker:inside out kind of shattered.
Speaker:And I never had any animosity.
Speaker:I wished him well.
Speaker:I think he finally went on to
Speaker:flexi and taught down there.
Speaker:And I just, I wish him
Speaker:nothing but the best.
Speaker:To have that moment inside your head
Speaker:is terrible for any person.
Speaker:So did he stay on the
Speaker:department for a little while
Speaker:or how did it all play out?
Speaker:Yeah, he stayed on the department
Speaker:and eventually he went down to flexi.
Speaker:The Florida.
Speaker:He was the federal law
Speaker:enforcement center in Georgia.
Speaker:Georgia.
Speaker:Yeah.
Speaker:And he taught down there gun safety.
Speaker:Can you think of a
Speaker:better person to do that?
Speaker:Perfect.
Speaker:Vivian, the National Law
Speaker:Enforcement Officers Memorial,
Speaker:you as COPS president
Speaker:served on our board of directors
Speaker:for three years.
Speaker:And it was the years when
Speaker:we were actually designing
Speaker:this memorial.
Speaker:What was it gonna look like?
Speaker:What were the elements
Speaker:that were gonna be part of it?
Speaker:And we got to this
Speaker:debate about whether or not
Speaker:we should have representational statuary,
Speaker:meaning officers in
Speaker:uniform on a pedestal,
Speaker:maybe three or four of
Speaker:them to represent all
Speaker:of law enforcement.
Speaker:And we realized, my
Speaker:goodness, how could we do that?
Speaker:There are so many
Speaker:different uniforms and ethnicities
Speaker:and man and woman.
Speaker:And we decided, you know what?
Speaker:We need a symbol of law enforcement
Speaker:that could represent
Speaker:all of law enforcement.
Speaker:And it came down to a
Speaker:debate between the eagle
Speaker:and the lion.
Speaker:And Vivian sat at that board meeting.
Speaker:I remember it vividly
Speaker:and made a compelling case
Speaker:for the lions, which we ended up
Speaker:selecting, of course.
Speaker:After Vivian's commentary,
Speaker:there was really no decision to be made.
Speaker:It was obvious the lions were our choice.
Speaker:But Vivian explained to me the lions.
Speaker:You mentioned Narnia,
Speaker:which I was not familiar with
Speaker:at the time, but it had
Speaker:something to do with your girls.
Speaker:And I'd love to hear
Speaker:maybe that story again,
Speaker:if you can recall it.
Speaker:Absolutely.
Speaker:When the girls were
Speaker:younger, they would go to bed
Speaker:and I would read them a
Speaker:chapter from the Chronicles
Speaker:of Narnia.
Speaker:And this was about a fantasy world
Speaker:where the lion was the king,
Speaker:but he always looked after the children
Speaker:who were there in Narnia.
Speaker:And my girls loved those stories.
Speaker:They couldn't wait to go to bed
Speaker:so they could hear the next chapter.
Speaker:And to me, that really
Speaker:spoke of law enforcement.
Speaker:I have seen cops, when they think a child
Speaker:has been wounded or abused,
Speaker:man, you just see the hair goes up.
Speaker:They are on high alert.
Speaker:They can't stand that
Speaker:something evil has happened
Speaker:to a child.
Speaker:And I thought, what
Speaker:better way to draw other people
Speaker:to the memorial than to see these lions
Speaker:who are constantly on watch.
Speaker:Actually, there's a wall
Speaker:near the National Archives
Speaker:that says eternal
Speaker:vigilance is the price of freedom.
Speaker:And that's what those lions are doing.
Speaker:They are constantly on watch
Speaker:and they are constantly looking around,
Speaker:making sure nothing
Speaker:happens to those young lions.
Speaker:You know, that's one of
Speaker:the more memorable things
Speaker:for me too are the lions.
Speaker:And the only quote that I
Speaker:can still today remember
Speaker:from being at the memorial is your quote,
Speaker:right next to the lion.
Speaker:And it's, again, that quote is,
Speaker:it's not how these officers
Speaker:died that made them heroes.
Speaker:It's how they lived.
Speaker:And I think we'd all like to know
Speaker:everybody that's listening.
Speaker:Did that just come off the
Speaker:top of your head off the cuff?
Speaker:Or was that something that you researched
Speaker:and thought about?
Speaker:How was that inspired?
Speaker:Well, it was inspired
Speaker:by a lot of departments
Speaker:ranking line of duty death.
Speaker:If you went down in a blaze of glory,
Speaker:you were a hero,
Speaker:streets were named after you,
Speaker:all that kind of thing.
Speaker:But if you died accidentally,
Speaker:especially if that ugly
Speaker:word liability rears its head,
Speaker:it was swept under the
Speaker:carpet as soon as possible.
Speaker:And to me, it was just
Speaker:such an appalling way
Speaker:to look at law enforcement.
Speaker:An officer gets
Speaker:dressed, he goes into work
Speaker:and he doesn't say, well,
Speaker:I think at three o'clock,
Speaker:I'm gonna be at this door
Speaker:and I'm going to be shot and killed.
Speaker:They don't think that.
Speaker:Another officer coming
Speaker:into work does not think that,
Speaker:oh, you know what?
Speaker:Today I'm going to be in
Speaker:an accident during a pursuit
Speaker:and I'll be killed.
Speaker:They don't think that.
Speaker:They go, they go out.
Speaker:That's what's important, is
Speaker:that they're always going out.
Speaker:So Vivian, did you labor over those words
Speaker:over a period of time
Speaker:or did that just pop
Speaker:right out of your head?
Speaker:It just popped right out of my head.
Speaker:It's not how they
Speaker:died, it's how they lived.
Speaker:That's what needs to be honored.
Speaker:And now we have the
Speaker:memorial in the museum
Speaker:where the memorial
Speaker:acknowledges who they were
Speaker:and the museum tells us what they did.
Speaker:And it's just such a perfect blending
Speaker:of two elements of law enforcement.
Speaker:One thing, go ahead, Dennis.
Speaker:No, I was gonna say, you
Speaker:may say the same thing, Craig,
Speaker:or we're recording this
Speaker:before police week 2026
Speaker:and it'll be played back
Speaker:before police week, I'm sure.
Speaker:Tell us Vivian about the
Speaker:importance of police week.
Speaker:I remember my first time there, Bill Erfurth
Speaker:first took me there,
Speaker:introduced me to
Speaker:Craig, how many years ago?
Speaker:20 some years ago.
Speaker:I know what it means to me,
Speaker:but I'd like to know what it
Speaker:means to you and your family,
Speaker:your girls.
Speaker:We have come to cherish it.
Speaker:It is looking at that
Speaker:memorial and saying,
Speaker:finally, America has
Speaker:acknowledged their heroes
Speaker:and it brings us such comfort.
Speaker:Every time the girls go, they're gonna
Speaker:get over by the lions
Speaker:and touch them and do that kind of stuff.
Speaker:And our grandchildren
Speaker:have been there too.
Speaker:And it is just such a
Speaker:special place for me.
Speaker:I remember my mother had two brothers
Speaker:that when served in World War II.
Speaker:And after the war, we
Speaker:went to every monument
Speaker:that was in DC for World War II veterans.
Speaker:And man, when we were there,
Speaker:we better hadn't bother my mom
Speaker:unless we were bleeding or unconscious.
Speaker:They were honoring the honorable.
Speaker:And it was a miracle both of
Speaker:her brothers lived through it.
Speaker:One was on the USS California
Speaker:when Pearl Harbor was bombed.
Speaker:And it was a sacred place.
Speaker:And now the memorial has become
Speaker:Law Enforcement's hallowed ground.
Speaker:And Craig, as the founding
Speaker:person here of the memorial
Speaker:and the museum and the chairman emeritus,
Speaker:I want you to give your speech.
Speaker:We try to do this on every episode of
Speaker:Heroes Behind the Badge
Speaker:but tell our audience
Speaker:why they need to show up
Speaker:at police week.
Speaker:I think there's really two sets of folks
Speaker:that we're addressing here.
Speaker:Both need to attend police week,
Speaker:need to see that memorial,
Speaker:need to visit that museum.
Speaker:First group of course is
Speaker:the law enforcement family.
Speaker:That would be the officers who've served
Speaker:or are serving and their families.
Speaker:They need to understand
Speaker:that they are following
Speaker:in the footsteps of some of
Speaker:the greatest men and women
Speaker:that have ever walked
Speaker:the face of this earth.
Speaker:That they are falling
Speaker:and carrying on the service
Speaker:of men and women who
Speaker:literally laid down their lives
Speaker:for their profession
Speaker:and for public safety.
Speaker:And so I think, and Bill
Speaker:has spoken to this many times
Speaker:on this podcast about why
Speaker:police week is important to him
Speaker:as an officer that it
Speaker:kind of rejuvenates him,
Speaker:makes him realize why
Speaker:he became an officer
Speaker:in the first place.
Speaker:Because some officers get
Speaker:hardened by all the filth
Speaker:and the depths of depravity
Speaker:that they have to deal with
Speaker:in law enforcement.
Speaker:But you come to police
Speaker:week and it's refreshing
Speaker:and it's rejuvenating and it's inspiring.
Speaker:So that's why I think the
Speaker:law enforcement community
Speaker:needs to make that trip.
Speaker:You visit that museum
Speaker:and you see the history
Speaker:of your profession and
Speaker:how you now proudly wear
Speaker:that same badge as
Speaker:the officers who served
Speaker:two, 300 years ago.
Speaker:And you go into that Hall of Remembrance
Speaker:and you see the, and hear the
Speaker:stories of the men and women
Speaker:who have made the ultimate sacrifice.
Speaker:So now fast forward.
Speaker:You've got the public
Speaker:audience, all right?
Speaker:If you're a citizen of this nation
Speaker:and we call our group
Speaker:Citizens Behind the Badge, right?
Speaker:These are the majority of Americans,
Speaker:vast majority of Americans
Speaker:who support law enforcement
Speaker:and respect law enforcement.
Speaker:But to come to national police week,
Speaker:attend that candlelight vigil,
Speaker:attend the Peace
Speaker:Officers Memorial Day service
Speaker:at the FOP and their auxiliary,
Speaker:put on every May 15th at the US Capitol.
Speaker:You all of a sudden
Speaker:understand that the value
Speaker:of law enforcement in this country
Speaker:and are inspired by the men and women
Speaker:who are literally
Speaker:willing to put down their lives
Speaker:for the safety and protection of others,
Speaker:people they don't even know.
Speaker:It's incredible to me.
Speaker:And this is why I
Speaker:wanted that museum built
Speaker:more than anything because
Speaker:I wanted the fellow citizens
Speaker:who hadn't had the chance
Speaker:to meet a police officer,
Speaker:to meet a survivor,
Speaker:to hear their stories,
Speaker:to have a sense of what
Speaker:it's like to walk in the shoes
Speaker:of a police officer and
Speaker:understand the dangers they face.
Speaker:So all of that is so important to me
Speaker:why not only officers and their families,
Speaker:but the citizens of this
Speaker:nation need to come to Washington
Speaker:at some point in their lives.
Speaker:During national police week,
Speaker:this year it's the week of
Speaker:May 10th through the 16th,
Speaker:attend the candlelight
Speaker:vigil on the national mall
Speaker:where 30 to 40,000 people will gather
Speaker:and hold candles aloft to
Speaker:honor the fallen heroes.
Speaker:More than 24,000 of them have their names
Speaker:on the national memorial.
Speaker:And then they'll go
Speaker:away inspired, I think,
Speaker:and have such a great appreciation
Speaker:for the men and women in law enforcement.
Speaker:So to me, that's why it's so important.
Speaker:And by the way, when we
Speaker:talk about what's different
Speaker:between 1984 and today,
Speaker:there was really no assembly of law
Speaker:enforcement professionals
Speaker:and thousands of
Speaker:survivors on the west front
Speaker:of the US Capitol or at
Speaker:the National Law Enforcement
Speaker:Memorial or on the mall
Speaker:honoring the men and women
Speaker:in law enforcement.
Speaker:That didn't exist in 1984.
Speaker:It was 1982 actually, the FOP did start
Speaker:to have a national ceremony in Washington
Speaker:to honor National Police Week
Speaker:and Peace Officers Memorial Day.
Speaker:But those ceremonies were sparse.
Speaker:There were no survivors there.
Speaker:There were maybe a few
Speaker:hundred people today.
Speaker:There's 30 to 40,000 people that attend,
Speaker:including thousands of the
Speaker:surviving family members.
Speaker:So night and day, as Vivian said,
Speaker:between 1984 and today,
Speaker:and all those are
Speaker:some of the reasons why.
Speaker:Along those lines, I wanna
Speaker:ask Vivian before we finish,
Speaker:I wanna ask her this question.
Speaker:You mentioned two
Speaker:organization, one being cops
Speaker:and the other, I
Speaker:think, being heroes, right?
Speaker:Yes.
Speaker:I'm very familiar with it.
Speaker:My daughter serves in
Speaker:central Florida with cops here.
Speaker:So I go to all their events.
Speaker:I'm a huge supporter.
Speaker:But could you let people
Speaker:know here, our audience,
Speaker:how they can become involved?
Speaker:Because apparently both
Speaker:organizations get support
Speaker:from people who are not just
Speaker:survivors from the community.
Speaker:I'd love to hear you
Speaker:tell us how to get involved.
Speaker:Well, Heroes organization,
Speaker:they're in the phone book.
Speaker:All they need to do is call up and say,
Speaker:where can I send a donation?
Speaker:What can I do to help?
Speaker:And with cops, basically
Speaker:the same thing is true.
Speaker:We do get some grants
Speaker:from the government,
Speaker:but there's always need.
Speaker:I mean, nobody wants to
Speaker:talk about the financial need,
Speaker:but it's there
Speaker:bringing all these people in
Speaker:and having them all in hotels.
Speaker:It's a major, major
Speaker:event to get this done.
Speaker:And so that's one way.
Speaker:I know I met a lot of
Speaker:people when I've gone up
Speaker:to the Memorial where they
Speaker:said they're volunteering.
Speaker:And so they were there
Speaker:handing out brochures
Speaker:or answering questions and that is good.
Speaker:But you do need to
Speaker:get the public involved.
Speaker:Absolutely.
Speaker:The last decade has been
Speaker:horrible for law enforcement.
Speaker:Yes, for sure.
Speaker:And I know my daughter every year,
Speaker:the cops in central Florida does a gala
Speaker:and that's open to the public.
Speaker:And that is one of their
Speaker:major fundraising events.
Speaker:And if you want to be
Speaker:really, really moved,
Speaker:I mean, some of the
Speaker:survivors, as you know,
Speaker:stand up and tell
Speaker:their story right there.
Speaker:I mean, in all of its detail.
Speaker:And I'll tell you, if
Speaker:you can sit through that
Speaker:and not have a sense of awe about their
Speaker:ability to stand up,
Speaker:I'm sure you've done that.
Speaker:And that is so impactful.
Speaker:I can't say enough to our listeners,
Speaker:if you haven't gotten
Speaker:involved with cops or heroes, do it.
Speaker:They need support, they need
Speaker:volunteers, they need money.
Speaker:Let's be real, they need money.
Speaker:So if you would like to donate
Speaker:to one of those
Speaker:organizations or both, check it out.
Speaker:Yes, absolutely.
Speaker:You know, I wanna jump back in.
Speaker:We were talking about
Speaker:National Police Week,
Speaker:which is coming up
Speaker:here in May and the events
Speaker:and Vivian's talked about
Speaker:it, Craig just talked about it.
Speaker:I wanna say a little bit
Speaker:more because, you know,
Speaker:the focus of course on
Speaker:Police Week is officers,
Speaker:law enforcement officers
Speaker:killed in line of duty,
Speaker:but it's just so much more than that.
Speaker:It's a collective coming
Speaker:together of camaraderie
Speaker:and an esprit de corps.
Speaker:And aside from the
Speaker:immensely impressive awe,
Speaker:inspiring type of
Speaker:events, the candlelight vigil
Speaker:and everything that
Speaker:else goes on, it's a party.
Speaker:It's a party to celebrate life.
Speaker:And it's a party to celebrate police
Speaker:camaraderie and unity
Speaker:and something that
Speaker:Vivian hit on about cops
Speaker:where you wanna tell
Speaker:the story to somebody else
Speaker:and they say, I understand and I know.
Speaker:Well, now you're with
Speaker:like-minded people of cops.
Speaker:And let me tell you
Speaker:something, the Irish pubs there
Speaker:and the bars and the parties,
Speaker:they used to have these
Speaker:bonfires in the streets.
Speaker:I don't know that they do that anymore,
Speaker:but I think it's important
Speaker:for people that haven't gone.
Speaker:Not only are you
Speaker:there to honor the fallen,
Speaker:you're there to celebrate life.
Speaker:Absolutely.
Speaker:And celebrate the profession.
Speaker:Yeah.
Speaker:Yeah.
Speaker:Vivian, there was a moment, last question
Speaker:and then I have a comment, quick story,
Speaker:but there was a moment that
Speaker:you related to me years ago.
Speaker:If you recall it, you
Speaker:were at the memorial
Speaker:and there were two
Speaker:officers that were visiting.
Speaker:It was maybe a weekday,
Speaker:not many people there.
Speaker:Yes.
Speaker:You were at your quote,
Speaker:it is not how these officers died,
Speaker:they made them heroes,
Speaker:it is how they lived.
Speaker:And you had to maybe
Speaker:explain it to those two officers.
Speaker:And when you did it, it
Speaker:had quite an impact on them.
Speaker:Do you recall that story?
Speaker:Yes, I recall that.
Speaker:And they, before they
Speaker:left, they asked me my name
Speaker:and I told them, and this one officer,
Speaker:you could actually see
Speaker:the color leave his face.
Speaker:And he said, you're the one
Speaker:that wrote that over there?
Speaker:And I said, yes.
Speaker:And he said, and I mean,
Speaker:tears were coming down.
Speaker:He said, you're the one that let me know,
Speaker:I don't have to die to be appreciated.
Speaker:Wow.
Speaker:I'll never forget that.
Speaker:And that's so impactful.
Speaker:The story I wanted to end with is,
Speaker:we talked about Vivian and my first
Speaker:encounter with Vivian,
Speaker:not being all that positive and loving,
Speaker:but we became great friends
Speaker:and obviously did a
Speaker:lot of good work together
Speaker:to build that memorial and
Speaker:to help support survivors
Speaker:and fallen officers and so forth.
Speaker:But I love the end of that story.
Speaker:I call it the end,
Speaker:we're obviously still
Speaker:gonna be lifelong friends,
Speaker:but we had just dedicated
Speaker:the National Law Enforcement Museum.
Speaker:This is October of 2018.
Speaker:We first encountered each other in 1985.
Speaker:So you do the math, that's
Speaker:basically 33 years later.
Speaker:We've dedicated the
Speaker:museum, I'm walking the street,
Speaker:I'm headed to a reception,
Speaker:and who do I spot on the street but
Speaker:Vivian Eney Cross.
Speaker:And I was so thankful,
Speaker:it's almost like God said,
Speaker:you know what, you all
Speaker:deserve a hug at this point
Speaker:because you've come full circle.
Speaker:Nice, nice story.
Speaker:Very, very important moment for me.
Speaker:Nice story.
Speaker:Absolutely.
Speaker:Let me thank you, Vivian.
Speaker:Let me thank you on behalf of our heroes
Speaker:behind the badge audience
Speaker:for sharing all you've shared today.
Speaker:You know, we all know that loss
Speaker:is unfortunately a part of this job.
Speaker:But what we didn't
Speaker:know is there are groups,
Speaker:there weren't back
Speaker:then, but thanks to you,
Speaker:there are now groups like
Speaker:COPS, the memorial itself,
Speaker:and heroes that can
Speaker:help someone get through,
Speaker:not recover fully,
Speaker:but get through the need
Speaker:you had to go through.
Speaker:So I salute you, you
Speaker:know, I look at grief,
Speaker:grief can be either a wall or a doorway.
Speaker:It's your choice.
Speaker:Guess what Vivian chose?
Speaker:Vivian chose a doorway, right?
Speaker:She had every right,
Speaker:after hearing her story today,
Speaker:she had every right to
Speaker:make it a wall, didn't she?
Speaker:She made it a doorway,
Speaker:she chose the doorway,
Speaker:she walked through the doorway.
Speaker:And on behalf of every law
Speaker:enforcement officer family,
Speaker:I wanna thank you for
Speaker:walking through that door.
Speaker:It has made a difference.
Speaker:You have made a difference.
Speaker:Thank you for guesting on
Speaker:Heroes Behind the Badge.
Speaker:Thank you, it was an honor.
Speaker:I wanna remind our audience,
Speaker:if you liked anything
Speaker:that Vivian had to say today,
Speaker:and there was plenty to like, okay,
Speaker:will you do us a favor?
Speaker:Hit subscribe, hit like, hit follow,
Speaker:but most important of
Speaker:all, make a comment.
Speaker:We love your comments, we
Speaker:read your comments, okay?
Speaker:Tell us what you think about
Speaker:this episode of the podcast.
Speaker:Tell us what you think about
Speaker:any episode of the podcast.
Speaker:You can find us at
Speaker:heroesbehindthebadge.com.
Speaker:And this podcast is brought to you
Speaker:by citizensbehindthebadge.org.
Speaker:Citizens Behind the
Speaker:Badge is the leading entity
Speaker:and support, the leading
Speaker:voice of law enforcement
Speaker:and support of law enforcement,
Speaker:the men and women of law enforcement,
Speaker:joined hundreds of thousands of people
Speaker:who already signed letters
Speaker:of recognition for police,
Speaker:letters of support for police.
Speaker:You can do that on
Speaker:citizensbehindthebadge.org.
Speaker:That's our website.
Speaker:You can also find the
Speaker:podcast on that website,
Speaker:all of our episodes.
Speaker:Gosh, I forget how many we've had.
Speaker:We had a lot of episodes.
Speaker:And when we do a new version,
Speaker:you'll be the first to
Speaker:know when you subscribe, okay?
Speaker:So please subscribe,
Speaker:like, follow, make comments.
Speaker:We love to have you comment
Speaker:on Heroes Behind the Badge.
Speaker:That's it for this episode.
Speaker:Thank you again, Vivian.
Speaker:We'll see you next time
Speaker:on Heroes Behind the Badge.
Speaker:(upbeat music)
