Latest / Crime Stories with Nancy Grace / THE SHELL COLLECTOR: FINDING LOVE AFTER LOSS
Transcript
- 0:05Speaker 1: Crime stories with Nancy Greece. Can you imagine building your
- 0:16Speaker 1: life with your husband, having children, sometimes three, four or
- 0:21Speaker 1: five children, sending your husband off to fight for our country,
- 0:29Speaker 1: and that moment when you learn he will never come home.
- 0:35Speaker 1: With me today, two military widows, one of them the
- 0:43Speaker 1: wife of Chris Kyle, the American sniper. The other the
- 0:50Speaker 1: wife of Lieutenant Lewis Allen killed in Iraq, leaving behind
- 0:57Speaker 1: not only his beautiful wife Barbe, but four boys. She
- 1:04Speaker 1: is a podcaster and an author. Also with me today,
- 1:10Speaker 1: an incredible author. I know you're gonna love her as
- 1:15Speaker 1: much as I do. Her name is Nancy Nagel. She
- 1:19Speaker 1: is a best selling author and she has written a
- 1:23Speaker 1: book that you're gonna love, The Shell Collector. It is
- 1:28Speaker 1: a story about a military widow starting life all over again.
- 1:36Speaker 1: Also with me, an incredible actress. Name you may have
- 1:39Speaker 1: seen her before, because I have, Caitlin Clark. She is
- 1:45Speaker 1: the star of a brand new movie which will drop
- 1:49Speaker 1: on Fox Nation September one, The Shell Collector, and she
- 1:56Speaker 1: has taken on the burden and the response ability I'll
- 2:01Speaker 1: portraying a military widow. Also with me, longtime friend and
- 2:08Speaker 1: colleague Karen Stark as Karen with A see New York
- 2:11Speaker 1: psychologist at Karen Stark dot com to help us figure
- 2:16Speaker 1: out what we do after such an incredible loss. First,
- 2:24Speaker 1: I want to go to Tea Kyle, the wife of
- 2:28Speaker 1: Navy Seal Chris Kyle, the American Sniper. She is the
- 2:34Speaker 1: director of the Tea and Chris Kyle Foundation, author of
- 2:37Speaker 1: American Wife and American Spirit. You can find her on
- 2:41Speaker 1: Twitter and Instagram at Tea Kyle. Everyone, Imancy Grace, this
- 2:47Speaker 1: is Crime Stories. Thank you for being with us here
- 2:50Speaker 1: at Fox Nation and Series one eleven. First of all, Tella,
- 2:55Speaker 1: I don't know how you and Barbe put one foot
- 3:00Speaker 1: in front of the other after suffering the blow that
- 3:05Speaker 1: you did. Do you remember when Chris left? I do,
- 3:12Speaker 1: And you know each time he left was was different.
- 3:15Speaker 1: And I think that's part of what we have to
- 3:18Speaker 1: acknowledge as military spouses, is that no time of a
- 3:22Speaker 1: deployment is the same when they leave or when they
- 3:24Speaker 1: come back. And the day that Chris and his friend
- 3:28Speaker 1: Chad were killed was a Saturday morning and we had
- 3:33Speaker 1: just taken the kids to basketball games. Everything was great.
- 3:36Speaker 1: They were just going to go help somebody who claimed
- 3:41Speaker 1: to have had PTS Chris had a lot of success
- 3:44Speaker 1: taking guys out in nature and talking to them and
- 3:47Speaker 1: doing something they had in common as a way to
- 3:50Speaker 1: just open the conversation. And so because the only information
- 3:55Speaker 1: that Chris had was this was a person with PTS,
- 3:57Speaker 1: he thought, you know, of course I'm going to show
- 3:59Speaker 1: up for this guy and we'll take him somewhere really
- 4:01Speaker 1: beautiful and it's a nice drive, and I'll get my
- 4:05Speaker 1: my best friend Chad to go out there with me.
- 4:07Speaker 1: And then the guy turned on them. Of course, I
- 4:10Speaker 1: think that in that we're very blessed to have had
- 4:14Speaker 1: such a great morning and such a great period of
- 4:17Speaker 1: our life to end on a high note. And it's
- 4:19Speaker 1: also I think adds to the tragedy in the shock
- 4:22Speaker 1: that it takes a long time to really process that.
- 4:25Speaker 1: You know, I had that that thoughts from my mind
- 4:27Speaker 1: over and over and over in the months to come,
- 4:29Speaker 1: like you know, just I don't understand would come through
- 4:33Speaker 1: my mind anytime i'd stop. It would be like the
- 4:34Speaker 1: back of my mind be like I don't understand, I
- 4:36Speaker 1: don't understand. So yeah, I do remember obviously very much,
- 4:40Speaker 1: so them that morning that you left, and you know,
- 4:46Speaker 1: I'm just like I said, I'm glad we were in
- 4:47Speaker 1: a really good place and had made it. Bob Allen
- 4:53Speaker 1: is also with us, wife of a Lieutenant Lewis Allen.
- 4:56Speaker 1: He and his co Captain Philip Esposito killed any Rock.
- 5:01Speaker 1: He left four boys behind, age six, five, three and
- 5:05Speaker 1: one at the time. Bob, do you remember that moment
- 5:10Speaker 1: when you sent him on his way, kissed him goodbye? Yeah?
- 5:15Speaker 1: I mean that there are certain moments we all have
- 5:18Speaker 1: that are branded into us forever, and that's absolutely one
- 5:22Speaker 1: of them. You know, I was trying to be strong.
- 5:27Speaker 1: First time he drove away from our home and I
- 5:29Speaker 1: was holding our youngest child next to our tree, and
- 5:33Speaker 1: we were both kind of crying and hugging our baby
- 5:36Speaker 1: together while the other ones were inside. And he drove
- 5:39Speaker 1: off to go, you know, to go and meet up
- 5:42Speaker 1: with people you needed to meet up with. And a
- 5:44Speaker 1: second later he came roaring back down the road and
- 5:48Speaker 1: jumped out of the car, and he left the door
- 5:50Speaker 1: open and came running over to me, you know, gave
- 5:52Speaker 1: me they hug. He's like, I don't know how many
- 5:55Speaker 1: leave you got, you know, it was one of those
- 5:56Speaker 1: moments that you just don't forget, and up to see
- 6:00Speaker 1: him on Memorial Day weekend, he had a surprise opportunity
- 6:03Speaker 1: from you see him one more time. So on Memorial
- 6:06Speaker 1: Day weekend two thousand and five, I was able to
- 6:08Speaker 1: go up to Fort Drum and spend one more night
- 6:10Speaker 1: with him, just him and I and I will really
- 6:14Speaker 1: never forget every single moment of that time. And you
- 6:18Speaker 1: know I had to leave the next day and he
- 6:20Speaker 1: deployed a Memorial Day two thousand and five, and ten
- 6:23Speaker 1: days later he and his commanding officer were murdered by
- 6:26Speaker 1: the staff sergeant of the unit. So you know, it's
- 6:31Speaker 1: just ten days, was just a lifetime apart, barb How
- 6:37Speaker 1: did you discover that he had been killed? I had
- 6:40Speaker 1: been up all night waiting to hear back from him,
- 6:43Speaker 1: and I was just sort of resting on our bed.
- 6:45Speaker 1: It was six am. I had this terrible, terrible feeling
- 6:50Speaker 1: something was wrong. I had had some moments the day
- 6:53Speaker 1: before or I almost knew, like I just knew in
- 6:57Speaker 1: some layer of my being that he had been killed. Barbara,
- 7:00Speaker 1: you are giving me chills all over because Karen Stark
- 7:05Speaker 1: and I've talked about it a lot before, but so
- 7:08Speaker 1: often victims' families. I mean, I knew it happened to
- 7:12Speaker 1: me when my fiancee was murdered. You know, before anybody
- 7:16Speaker 1: tells you it's the strangest thing. And I swear, of course,
- 7:19Speaker 1: I could never bring this in to a court of law.
- 7:22Speaker 1: I would never bring it up to a jury even
- 7:24Speaker 1: because they'd never believe me. But I've heard it over
- 7:28Speaker 1: and over and over, Barb, tell me about that, those
- 7:31Speaker 1: moments that you know, the day before I thought I
- 7:37Speaker 1: saw him walking down the street as I was flying home,
- 7:39Speaker 1: I had missus call, and he sat next to me
- 7:42Speaker 1: in the car and he had the space and he see.
- 7:46Speaker 1: I don't know if I could say this online, you
- 7:47Speaker 1: let it down, but he looked at me, so, you know.
- 7:49Speaker 1: And then later on in the evening, I was feeding
- 7:53Speaker 1: my kids dinner and it was like something literally just
- 7:55Speaker 1: it was literally like I was punched in my gut
- 7:57Speaker 1: and I fell over on the table. It's just that nowhere,
- 8:00Speaker 1: and I knew in that moment, I just knew without knowing,
- 8:05Speaker 1: you know. And then you sit up all night telling
- 8:07Speaker 1: yourself that you're crazy. But then your doorbell rings at
- 8:10Speaker 1: six o'clock in the morning and the military detail is
- 8:14Speaker 1: at your door, and your world comes to an end.
- 8:16Speaker 1: Oh my stars, I'm just trying to imagine you, Barb
- 8:21Speaker 1: and Taia dealing with the loss of the love of
- 8:25Speaker 1: your life and you're spiraling. I mean, Teia, how did
- 8:30Speaker 1: you do? What? How did you come out of that?
- 8:33Speaker 1: You know, it's interesting. It's been a really long process
- 8:36Speaker 1: of learning about grace for myself and from my kids,
- 8:41Speaker 1: and my faith in God has increased so much. I've
- 8:44Speaker 1: I've experienced God in so many different ways in that
- 8:49Speaker 1: I would have never imagined in the first place that
- 8:52Speaker 1: have carried me. And I remember there was this moment
- 8:56Speaker 1: where I have many moments, right, and I've gone back
- 8:59Speaker 1: and I've asked my daughter or I've learned so okay,
- 9:02Speaker 1: I'm a fragmented because there are so many moments, but
- 9:04Speaker 1: I'm gonna pick two. One of them was when I
- 9:08Speaker 1: realized that I was everything. That I had lawsuits, Chris's
- 9:12Speaker 1: business partners, somebody else, we had attacks from the family, rumors,
- 9:16Speaker 1: you know, it seems to always compound. And it was
- 9:20Speaker 1: sort of a five hundred and eighty degree battlefield at
- 9:22Speaker 1: the time, and my temper was short, and I was
- 9:25Speaker 1: up late, you know, all of those things. And so
- 9:27Speaker 1: years later I said to my daughter I was not
- 9:29Speaker 1: the mom I wanted to be, and I'm so sorry
- 9:32Speaker 1: and I need to ask your forgiveness. And she said, Mama,
- 9:36Speaker 1: what are you even? What are you talking about? Like,
- 9:38Speaker 1: I don't remember those things. And I had prayed earlier
- 9:41Speaker 1: that God would mend the places that I broke in them,
- 9:44Speaker 1: and I had these really intense spiritual experiences where I
- 9:48Speaker 1: felt like God was going to pick up where I
- 9:51Speaker 1: had fallen short. And the other moment I want to
- 9:54Speaker 1: share with you is this moment that I had with
- 9:55Speaker 1: my son. I was driving to the house and I
- 9:58Speaker 1: was crying so hard in either years after it happened, right,
- 10:00Speaker 1: these are probably The conversation with my daughter was maybe
- 10:04Speaker 1: seven years after Chris was killed, and we had many
- 10:06Speaker 1: conversations before, but the beauty of that one was that
- 10:09Speaker 1: she didn't remember all of the things that I did.
- 10:11Speaker 1: The one with my son was probably three or four
- 10:13Speaker 1: years after Chris was killed, and we're pulling into our
- 10:16Speaker 1: house and I said, I had this idea when you
- 10:18Speaker 1: were first born and things were so good that I
- 10:21Speaker 1: knew I couldn't be a perfect mom, but I thought
- 10:23Speaker 1: I was going to be really close, Like it just
- 10:26Speaker 1: came naturally to me and I had all this love
- 10:28Speaker 1: and I just felt so happy about it, and it
- 10:32Speaker 1: hurts me and I have to let go of this
- 10:34Speaker 1: that I can't even come close to what I think
- 10:37Speaker 1: I might have been able to have been without trauma,
- 10:41Speaker 1: and it breaks my heart. But it's time for me
- 10:43Speaker 1: to let go because I've held on to it and
- 10:45Speaker 1: it's hurting us more than it's helping us. And you know,
- 10:48Speaker 1: it was this powerful moment with him where he understood.
- 10:52Speaker 1: And my kids are so deep and so faithful and
- 10:56Speaker 1: so mature, and they get so much of life that
- 10:59Speaker 1: other people their age and get. And I think you
- 11:01Speaker 1: realized that it was. It was a powerful thing that
- 11:05Speaker 1: I wanted that I had to let go of. And
- 11:06Speaker 1: then we all have to give ourselves grace for the
- 11:10Speaker 1: things that we can't do in life's attacks. Does that
- 11:12Speaker 1: make sense. I'm just listening and hearing how your lives
- 11:17Speaker 1: have spun out after losing your husband. Guys with me,
- 11:23Speaker 1: two incredible military widows. Barbe allan wife of Lieutenat Lewis Allen.
- 11:30Speaker 1: He and his co Captain Philip Esposito killed in Iraq.
- 11:35Speaker 1: He left behind four little boys to be raised by Mommy.
- 11:40Speaker 1: Tell you Kyle, wife of Navy Sill Chris Kyle, the
- 11:45Speaker 1: American Sniper. I'm sure we've all seen the movie American Sniper.
- 11:50Speaker 1: I want to bring in our other incredible guests, but
- 11:54Speaker 1: I just had to start with the real thing, our
- 11:59Speaker 1: military widows who we owe so much. You know, when
- 12:05Speaker 1: we look at all the military and we think, oh,
- 12:13Speaker 1: what they're sacrificing they're going, never sees they're in training,
- 12:17Speaker 1: they're risking their lives. So often we don't think about
- 12:23Speaker 1: the military wives and husbands and children that are also
- 12:29Speaker 1: risking their world when mom or Dad are deployed. Listen
- 12:36Speaker 1: to the shell collector, what are you doing? I think
- 12:43Speaker 1: I for ustened down the style read your brother. I
- 12:49Speaker 1: don't know Jesse. Jesse, where are you? And over here?
- 13:05Speaker 1: It's good you're ready to go to work. Hey, hey,
- 13:12Speaker 1: I think I have something you're looking for. It seems
- 13:15Speaker 1: like you do. Thank you, Jesse. We talked about this.
- 13:18Speaker 1: It's not safe for you to wander off from Sorry, mom,
- 13:22Speaker 1: Jesse tells me you're having some sink problems. Yeah, I
- 13:26Speaker 1: was trying to fix our sink and let's just say
- 13:28Speaker 1: the sink one. That's why I bought this for her.
- 13:32Speaker 1: You're probably not gonna fix it with those. IM sure
- 13:36Speaker 1: you don't need my help, but I am pretty handy
- 13:38Speaker 1: with clumbing and the storefront back. I can help you
- 13:43Speaker 1: find what you're looking for. Two tools you need a basin, ranch,
- 13:56Speaker 1: Crescent Ranch time stories with Nancy Grace. I want to
- 14:16Speaker 1: go now to Caitlin Clark. She is just stunning and
- 14:24Speaker 1: let me just I'll go ahead and confesst Before we
- 14:27Speaker 1: started talking on air today, I had to ask her,
- 14:30Speaker 1: are you wearing blue contacts? And of course I was
- 14:33Speaker 1: devastating when she said no. Her eyes. I mean, once
- 14:38Speaker 1: you see them, you'll never forget them. She is an
- 14:41Speaker 1: accomplished actress, so many credits to her name, and I
- 14:44Speaker 1: was especially interested that she actually this beautiful woman starting
- 14:49Speaker 1: horror Fleix, which if I was telling Jack, I would
- 14:51Speaker 1: totally be in horror movies. If hor and actress, Caitlyn,
- 14:54Speaker 1: you have a really wide range. But my question to you,
- 15:00Speaker 1: my first question, hey everybody, is I like to say
- 15:03Speaker 1: this is no high tea at windsor Castle or I
- 15:08Speaker 1: jump in whenever you feel like at Caitlin, how did
- 15:12Speaker 1: you deal with the responsibility of portraying someone like Barbed
- 15:20Speaker 1: Allen or tay A, Chile, because I remember when I
- 15:23Speaker 1: would go into trial and I would be all prepared,
- 15:26Speaker 1: let's say, on a murder trial, and I would have
- 15:28Speaker 1: met with the family of the victim, and I would
- 15:30Speaker 1: have gone to the medical examina and the crime lab
- 15:33Speaker 1: and the crime scene and taking photos and measurements and
- 15:35Speaker 1: blah blah blah written opening statement and the closing say.
- 15:38Speaker 1: When I would walk into court, I would know that
- 15:42Speaker 1: I had to represent the state and everybody was counting
- 15:47Speaker 1: on me to somehow pull it out. I mean, when
- 15:51Speaker 1: you hear real life military widows, what was in your
- 15:57Speaker 1: mind when you went to act one scene one? Well,
- 16:01Speaker 1: thank you Nancy for having me on. But I do
- 16:05Speaker 1: have to say, especially after listening just now it's barbintella.
- 16:09Speaker 1: I remember when we filmed and this is actually the
- 16:12Speaker 1: opening scene. And of course there's some scenes where you
- 16:17Speaker 1: can't really relate to it, but you know how to prepare,
- 16:19Speaker 1: and I might require listening to music, but I remember
- 16:22Speaker 1: this one particular scene. The movie starts off, I'm saying
- 16:27Speaker 1: goodbye to my husband without getting too much of the
- 16:30Speaker 1: story away, and don't you dare give away the end.
- 16:36Speaker 1: We're on location there before we shoot the scene, and
- 16:41Speaker 1: I just remember thinking seeing the buses pull off the
- 16:47Speaker 1: soldiers in their uniforms, the actors actually and I remember thinking,
- 16:52Speaker 1: oh my gosh, I can't imagine what military families and
- 16:57Speaker 1: the soldiers must go through. Because immediately I felt like
- 17:00Speaker 1: this anxiety and I felt sad already, without having to
- 17:06Speaker 1: do much for prayering, I thought, I don't I'm not
- 17:09Speaker 1: going to need to listen to music. I didn't even
- 17:11Speaker 1: know the actor of that well, I only met him
- 17:13Speaker 1: a couple of days before Patch May, and just standing
- 17:16Speaker 1: there with my two children core actors and seeing the
- 17:22Speaker 1: rest of the families surrounding us, I felt so sad.
- 17:25Speaker 1: And it really didn't take much for me to say,
- 17:29Speaker 1: of this scene, who is my brother, my husband, a boyfriend,
- 17:33Speaker 1: I can't imagine what Barbin team must have gone through,
- 17:37Speaker 1: and so many families and the soldiers, And right away
- 17:41Speaker 1: that I was sad, it was easy for the tears
- 17:46Speaker 1: to come out because it's just it's something that happens
- 17:51Speaker 1: all the time, and it's happened to so many families.
- 17:53Speaker 1: So for that that moment particularly, I didn't didn't really
- 17:57Speaker 1: require much because you see and you think, oh my god,
- 18:01Speaker 1: I can't. I can't believe this. You know how many
- 18:04Speaker 1: people this has her, So that seemed for me it
- 18:08Speaker 1: was definitely heartbreaking. You know, people often think that, you know,
- 18:13Speaker 1: we see actresses and actors on the red carpet and
- 18:17Speaker 1: they're all glamorous, or we see pictures in the tabloids
- 18:20Speaker 1: of them going to dinner or some fun vacation somewhere.
- 18:24Speaker 1: When I'm listening to you described that feeling before you
- 18:26Speaker 1: started filming, Caitlin, you know, it can really it can
- 18:30Speaker 1: take a toll when you take it to heart. And
- 18:34Speaker 1: this is not much of a comparison, but I would
- 18:36Speaker 1: take my cases to heart, and I felt like so
- 18:40Speaker 1: many people were counting on me and relying on me,
- 18:44Speaker 1: and I would imagine what it would feel like, you know,
- 18:47Speaker 1: if I lost the case and I'd have to tell
- 18:50Speaker 1: the victim's mom, you know, I'm sorry, and it just
- 18:54Speaker 1: it's a it's a huge burden. Now we have one
- 18:58Speaker 1: woman to think for this incredible story, the Shell Collector,
- 19:04Speaker 1: which I am so proud is going to be at
- 19:09Speaker 1: my home, Fox Nation. We have this woman to thank,
- 19:14Speaker 1: Nancy Nagel. Can I tell you about her? She is
- 19:18Speaker 1: the best selling author. She's written so many books, but
- 19:24Speaker 1: this one. Oh. You can find her at Nancy Nagel
- 19:26Speaker 1: dot com in AI g l E. She's on instant Twitter.
- 19:31Speaker 1: Of course. The Shell Collector is incredible, Nancy, And I've
- 19:36Speaker 1: just got to hear how you are inspired to write
- 19:39Speaker 1: this And did you have any idea it was going
- 19:41Speaker 1: to be this incredible movie with Caitlyn Clark's starring in it. Oh? Yeah,
- 19:50Speaker 1: you know what, this this whole story has been truly
- 19:54Speaker 1: a blessing. And Taya and Barb, I mean, I'm just
- 19:57Speaker 1: sitting here in balling for you girls. I love y'all,
- 19:59Speaker 1: and my voice is shaken. I'm so sorry. But you know,
- 20:03Speaker 1: I was born and raised in Virginia Beach, so I
- 20:06Speaker 1: don't have that military spouse background, but I have always
- 20:11Speaker 1: had boodles of respect because you know, the military wives
- 20:16Speaker 1: are just as much at the forefront of protecting us
- 20:19Speaker 1: and taking care of us as our soldiers are. There's
- 20:22Speaker 1: such a huge commitment and respect and a gift from
- 20:25Speaker 1: not only those men and women that are serving, but
- 20:28Speaker 1: their families, you know, and the children. And you know,
- 20:30Speaker 1: I grew up with all those kids that you know,
- 20:32Speaker 1: we're having to say goodbye to their daddies and stuff
- 20:35Speaker 1: just for a few months and when tragedy turns. But
- 20:39Speaker 1: this story came out of a different inspiration. I lost
- 20:42Speaker 1: my husband to a short battle of cancer in twenty fourteen.
- 20:47Speaker 1: He was diagnosed in October with stage world one cancer
- 20:49Speaker 1: and at the end of January he was gone. And
- 20:51Speaker 1: at that time I was a senior vice president with
- 20:54Speaker 1: Saint America and the finance and technology industry, and you know,
- 21:01Speaker 1: as so many people do, you know, I felt this
- 21:05Speaker 1: profound need to pull myself up somehow through that grief,
- 21:11Speaker 1: and I was really floundering. And five weeks later I
- 21:15Speaker 1: lost my cousin and she had been battling cancer for years.
- 21:19Speaker 1: And one of the stories he had told me was
- 21:21Speaker 1: of a family friend who lived on the Outer Banks
- 21:23Speaker 1: and Kittie Hawk. And as that woman walked the beach
- 21:26Speaker 1: one morning with something really heavy on her heart, she
- 21:29Speaker 1: kicked up a shell and when she picked it up,
- 21:31Speaker 1: I had a scripture written in it, and it happened
- 21:33Speaker 1: to be this beautiful scripture that uplifted her and helped
- 21:37Speaker 1: her manage through. And over six years she found four
- 21:40Speaker 1: shells like that, and nobody else she knew had found any,
- 21:43Speaker 1: and she considered them her messages from the Angels Bide
- 21:46Speaker 1: the Sea. And I remember, you know, losing Mike on
- 21:49Speaker 1: January thirty eighth, and then five weeks later losing Diane,
- 21:53Speaker 1: and I was still so crumpled, you know, from losing Mike.
- 21:56Speaker 1: I didn't even go to her funeral. And I remember
- 21:59Speaker 1: laying in my bed just solving for that loss and
- 22:01Speaker 1: thinking I could use the bucket of those shells. And
- 22:04Speaker 1: at that point that story really started building in my heart,
- 22:07Speaker 1: and sony years to write it, you know, I lost
- 22:10Speaker 1: him in twenty fourteen. This book didn't come out uti
- 22:12Speaker 1: twenty twenty one, but I felt such a need to
- 22:18Speaker 1: make something good out of it. And I can tell
- 22:21Speaker 1: you the Lord has brought so many widows into my
- 22:24Speaker 1: path that it's almost a little frightening when I start
- 22:27Speaker 1: telling stories, and there are so many, but we have
- 22:30Speaker 1: found strength in each other and being able to share
- 22:33Speaker 1: our stories and I uplift each other. And so my
- 22:36Speaker 1: hopes for this book were that knowing that every single
- 22:41Speaker 1: one of us is going to go through this loss someday,
- 22:43Speaker 1: it's still we're never going to perfect it. And I
- 22:46Speaker 1: thought if I could write a story that would somehow
- 22:50Speaker 1: find a permanent place in ladies hearts that when they
- 22:54Speaker 1: went to that loss, something would tickle a memory or
- 22:57Speaker 1: give them just a little bit of hope to help
- 23:00Speaker 1: them manage through it with grace. That would be the
- 23:03Speaker 1: biggest gift at all. And when Fox Nation contacted me
- 23:07Speaker 1: to optionists for a movie, I mean I couldn't have
- 23:11Speaker 1: been happier. I'd had several movies on Hallmark. They were
- 23:14Speaker 1: all very special, but just carries such a special message
- 23:18Speaker 1: and meaning for me that touching this many people is
- 23:22Speaker 1: it's just the biggest blessing of all. I'll tell you what, Nancy, Nagel,
- 23:26Speaker 1: Barba Allen, and tell you Kyle, and you too, Caitlin.
- 23:32Speaker 1: Now that I think about it, all four of you
- 23:35Speaker 1: have just brought me to tears as I'm sitting here
- 23:39Speaker 1: listening to what you had to overcome. And one thing
- 23:44Speaker 1: I'm hearing from you is that the Lord gave you
- 23:49Speaker 1: a strength that you didn't know you have. Nancy, if
- 23:55Speaker 1: you would tell me that story one more time and
- 23:57Speaker 1: let me sink in about when those shells were found, Yeah,
- 24:05Speaker 1: I mean that story just touched me from the first
- 24:07Speaker 1: moment I heard it. But you know, after I had
- 24:09Speaker 1: that loss, it just meant so much more. But I could,
- 24:12Speaker 1: you know, I could just picture you know, this friend
- 24:14Speaker 1: of our family walking down that beach like she did
- 24:17Speaker 1: every morning. And I grew up in Virginia Beach, so
- 24:19Speaker 1: you know, we just do that. Doesn't matter what the
- 24:20Speaker 1: weather is, you know, sunshine or rain or cold, we
- 24:24Speaker 1: walk that beach and love it, you know. And she
- 24:26Speaker 1: kicks that shell up and the surf fin sound picks
- 24:29Speaker 1: it up, and then as she turns it over, she
- 24:33Speaker 1: realized that something's written in it. And to read that
- 24:36Speaker 1: scripture and suddenly feel that that lifting, you know, of
- 24:41Speaker 1: that burden to make her be able to manage through
- 24:43Speaker 1: the problem that she had at that time was just amazing.
- 24:47Speaker 1: And that over a six period, six year period, she
- 24:50Speaker 1: found four shells, not all of them were scriptures, but
- 24:52Speaker 1: all of them were positive messages, and some of them
- 24:55Speaker 1: not even on the beach, but out near our home.
- 24:57Speaker 1: And so you're like, wow, how did that happen? And
- 25:00Speaker 1: she said, you know, she asked people nobody else had
- 25:02Speaker 1: had it happened toybody else and found a cell And
- 25:05Speaker 1: so that's amazing. It was just an incredible story and
- 25:09Speaker 1: and so neat and touching and so you know, as
- 25:12Speaker 1: my the wheels in my own mind and heart were
- 25:15Speaker 1: turning as I was trying to manage through grief, this
- 25:19Speaker 1: story of this this older woman who was kind of
- 25:22Speaker 1: the navigator of those shells, even though she didn't know
- 25:25Speaker 1: where they were going to end up or whose hands,
- 25:27Speaker 1: you know, but that they managed to be in the
- 25:29Speaker 1: right people's hands at the right time. Just I mean,
- 25:32Speaker 1: it became so real to me. That's an incredible inspiration.
- 25:37Speaker 1: Barb Allen joining me, wife of Lieutenant Lewis Allen. He
- 25:41Speaker 1: and his co Captain Philip Esposito were killed Iraq two
- 25:45Speaker 1: thousand and four. He left four little boys as young
- 25:48Speaker 1: as one year old behind to be raised by mommy. Barb,
- 25:53Speaker 1: when did you feel that moment of strength, of inspiration
- 26:00Speaker 1: when you could actually see the light at the end
- 26:03Speaker 1: of the tunnel. I had a lot of those moments
- 26:07Speaker 1: over the years, but the one that served to help
- 26:09Speaker 1: me change the trajectory of my life and sort of
- 26:14Speaker 1: pivot everything around and take my life back was it
- 26:18Speaker 1: was actually on my forty second birthday when I got
- 26:22Speaker 1: a call, a collect call, of course, from my ex fiance.
- 26:26Speaker 1: I was broken, I was in bad health. That was
- 26:29Speaker 1: everything I just felt like I failed my kids. I
- 26:31Speaker 1: felt God, I failed my husband. I just, you know,
- 26:34Speaker 1: a way below rock bottom. And that call it just
- 26:38Speaker 1: ended badly, I mean, because how could that not end? Babby?
- 26:41Speaker 1: And I fell to my knees, literally dropped to my
- 26:44Speaker 1: knees and my driveway. I was sobbing and just broken.
- 26:48Speaker 1: This was ten years after my husband had been killed.
- 26:51Speaker 1: And I prayed and I just said, I really just
- 26:55Speaker 1: prayed to God. I said, please help me figure this out.
- 26:59Speaker 1: You know, how how do I have to I have
- 27:02Speaker 1: to fix this. I have to change, I have to
- 27:04Speaker 1: get myself together. I have to be strong and I
- 27:07Speaker 1: don't know how well can you help me? And I
- 27:11Speaker 1: felt an instant rush of warmth and beauty I can't
- 27:16Speaker 1: describe it, and strength and and it just it was
- 27:21Speaker 1: almost like I heard someone saying, finally, you know, I
- 27:25Speaker 1: sort of had to humble myself, you know, and ask
- 27:27Speaker 1: for the help and uh and I stood back up,
- 27:31Speaker 1: and I just felt different. I had all the same problems,
- 27:35Speaker 1: but now I had hope and I just felt differently
- 27:38Speaker 1: and I felt like it would going to be okay
- 27:41Speaker 1: because I had reached that awareness and I had received
- 27:45Speaker 1: that grace from a place I don't know, you know,
- 27:48Speaker 1: but so that was the moment that I began taking
- 27:51Speaker 1: all of those steps that I needed to change everything
- 27:55Speaker 1: about my life. And more amazing people came into my
- 27:58Speaker 1: life from that moment, Ya being one of them. So
- 28:03Speaker 1: you know that I'll never forget that woman either. Listen
- 28:07Speaker 1: to the Shell Collector, I'm sorry I was so awful
- 28:10Speaker 1: to you after Jack died. You were trying to be
- 28:13Speaker 1: there for us, and I blamed you. I know it
- 28:19Speaker 1: wasn't your fault, but it was. If I hadn't taken
- 28:25Speaker 1: a different assignment, then I would have been there with him.
- 28:30Speaker 1: That was the plan, That was the promise. Then I
- 28:35Speaker 1: broke it. Well, if you had been there, you probably
- 28:38Speaker 1: wouldn't have come on either. That'd be better than being
- 28:42Speaker 1: here without him. Hid you, the kids so much to
- 28:48Speaker 1: come home to. None of this is fair. Finally coming
- 28:54Speaker 1: in terms of that, I have my bad d's overall,
- 29:01Speaker 1: I'm okay. Caitlyn Clark joining me, just an incredible actress
- 29:06Speaker 1: who is starring in what is an incredible movie, and
- 29:10Speaker 1: I'm so proud to be able to talk to them today. Caitlin,
- 29:16Speaker 1: what was it like telling this story? The Shell Collector um, well,
- 29:22Speaker 1: I did feel, I guess a lot of pressure because
- 29:24Speaker 1: I felt like, well, my husband was killed in the movie,
- 29:31Speaker 1: and I didn't want it to make it seem like, Okay,
- 29:34Speaker 1: we forget about him. But I also wanted to hopefully
- 29:38Speaker 1: my portrayal of Amanda will inspire people to move to
- 29:42Speaker 1: move on and reach out for help. But I also
- 29:45Speaker 1: didn't want it to make it like, Okay, I'm move
- 29:49Speaker 1: on with my life, but then we forget Jack, my husband.
- 29:53Speaker 1: So that was the pressure of, you know, of thinking, Okay,
- 29:57Speaker 1: does it make it seem like I moved on and I, um,
- 30:01Speaker 1: he's out the window. But that was something I discussed
- 30:05Speaker 1: with the acting teacher and he said, no, you know, um,
- 30:09Speaker 1: they'll they'll. There's going to be a part in the
- 30:11Speaker 1: script where you'll make it clear that just because you've
- 30:15Speaker 1: found your new life with your family and you've moved
- 30:18Speaker 1: to Newtown, you know he's always going to be there.
- 30:21Speaker 1: And I'm sure many people who have lost loved ones
- 30:26Speaker 1: that will be the case for them that they've moved on.
- 30:29Speaker 1: Of course, their loved one will always be a huge
- 30:33Speaker 1: part of their life and will always own a corner
- 30:37Speaker 1: of their hearts. Yeah, that's so poignant the way you
- 30:42Speaker 1: said that always own a corner of their hearts with me.
- 30:47Speaker 1: In addition to Barbe Allen and Nancy Nagel, Karen Start,
- 30:52Speaker 1: and Caitlin Clark is tell A Kyle wife Nabe Still
- 30:57Speaker 1: Chris Kyle, who I've mentioned earlier is The American Sniper.
- 31:02Speaker 1: I'm sure many of you have seen that awesome movie
- 31:05Speaker 1: The American Sniper. Tell you when was the moment we
- 31:11Speaker 1: hard Bob describing the moment she literally fell to her
- 31:15Speaker 1: knees and just could not go forward. When was the
- 31:19Speaker 1: moment that you saw a light at the end of
- 31:23Speaker 1: the tunnel. No, it's interesting that you asked that question
- 31:26Speaker 1: because I had these In hindsight, I look back and
- 31:31Speaker 1: think what I felt like in losing Chris was an amputation.
- 31:36Speaker 1: And as a parent, I think if my child was
- 31:39Speaker 1: going to have an amputation, and I knew it was unavoidable,
- 31:42Speaker 1: then I would do everything I could to prepare them
- 31:46Speaker 1: ahead of time. But I wouldn't tell them everything. I
- 31:48Speaker 1: wouldn't overwhelm them. I would try to just give them
- 31:50Speaker 1: pieces of information and put them around people who had
- 31:54Speaker 1: survived hard things, and then I'd be with them during
- 31:57Speaker 1: the amputation and after would say, Okay, we're gonna heal,
- 32:01Speaker 1: and we are going to get out there stronger than
- 32:03Speaker 1: you were before, and we are going to show everyone
- 32:06Speaker 1: and show yourself importantly that this doesn't take you out
- 32:09Speaker 1: of game. I say that because I feel like, in hindsight,
- 32:13Speaker 1: that's what God did with me, knowing that there's free
- 32:16Speaker 1: will a man knowing that things hit us, but God
- 32:20Speaker 1: knows those things are going to happen, and so he
- 32:23Speaker 1: prepares us and my preparation. The way I see it
- 32:27Speaker 1: is that I had friends who lost their husbands, and
- 32:30Speaker 1: I watched these young widows go through it, and I
- 32:33Speaker 1: knew that they survived, and I knew that. After I
- 32:36Speaker 1: would leave the funeral, I would think, I can't believe
- 32:39Speaker 1: I have to go to the grocery store for my kids.
- 32:41Speaker 1: It feels like the world should be stopping for them,
- 32:44Speaker 1: but it doesn't. Well, yeah, oh, my stars, tell us.
- 32:50Speaker 1: I have used that exact phrase a million times after
- 32:56Speaker 1: I can't believe you just said those exact words. You fell.
- 33:00Speaker 1: The world should be stopping, I've said a hundred times.
- 33:03Speaker 1: After my fiance case murder, it felt like I stepped
- 33:07Speaker 1: off the world and looked back because my world had
- 33:10Speaker 1: stopped and the world was still spinning, and I couldn't
- 33:14Speaker 1: believe how everything didn't stop because this horrible thing had happened, right,
- 33:20Speaker 1: And it's so hard to take in. So I'm just
- 33:26Speaker 1: imagining you coming home from a funeral and thinking I
- 33:29Speaker 1: got to go to the grocery store for the children.
- 33:32Speaker 1: It's just so, when did you feel Did you even
- 33:37Speaker 1: see a tiny light at the end of the tunnel? Well? Yeah,
- 33:40Speaker 1: I think that was The interesting thing is I believe
- 33:43Speaker 1: that God did not want those things, but he used
- 33:46Speaker 1: those things so that when I had my moment and
- 33:49Speaker 1: when people told me, you know, that Chris had been killed,
- 33:53Speaker 1: I had this knowing. You know. I had one friend
- 33:57Speaker 1: with me at the time, and she said, hey, I
- 34:00Speaker 1: saw you and the tears were pouring down your face
- 34:02Speaker 1: and you said, are you sure? Are you sure? Because
- 34:05Speaker 1: I knew there were so many times that I had
- 34:07Speaker 1: heard that maybe the guys had died or been injured.
- 34:10Speaker 1: And so I told myself, until it's you, it's not you.
- 34:13Speaker 1: Don't assume trouble until somebody looks you in the eye
- 34:15Speaker 1: and tells you it's you. And so when they said that,
- 34:18Speaker 1: and I asked them three times, are you sure, and
- 34:19Speaker 1: they said yes. It was like my head fell back
- 34:22Speaker 1: against the wall. The tears streamed down, and my friends said,
- 34:24Speaker 1: it's like you went into business mode of Okay, then
- 34:27Speaker 1: this is it because I knew somewhere inside me, I
- 34:30Speaker 1: have watched these women do this and the world is
- 34:33Speaker 1: not going to stop and this is going to be
- 34:35Speaker 1: you know, hell on Earth for however long it's going
- 34:38Speaker 1: to be. And it's almost like my number came up,
- 34:40Speaker 1: you know, like f you know, I'm trying to swear
- 34:44Speaker 1: on this on this show, but like, oh my god,
- 34:45Speaker 1: it's you know, oh my god. And then you kind
- 34:48Speaker 1: of go into shock. And there were some it's a
- 34:51Speaker 1: long story, but there were some pastors that had gathered
- 34:53Speaker 1: in my house that I think, you know, people knew,
- 34:55Speaker 1: maybe before they confirmed it with me, and I remember
- 34:58Speaker 1: grabbing their hands. I first of all, I said who
- 35:00Speaker 1: are you because they weren't, you know, they were just
- 35:02Speaker 1: in street clothes. And they said, oh, we're some local
- 35:04Speaker 1: pastors and I said okay, and I grabbed their hands.
- 35:06Speaker 1: I said, then I want you to pray for him.
- 35:08Speaker 1: I know where he is, I know where he's going,
- 35:11Speaker 1: I know that God is with him. I just want
- 35:13Speaker 1: you to pray for that smooth transition, and they had
- 35:16Speaker 1: some you know, platitudes and all that, and I just
- 35:18Speaker 1: was I got angry and crying and I said, no, him,
- 35:22Speaker 1: the person him, and I kind of, you know, went
- 35:25Speaker 1: into my own version and words of the prayers, and
- 35:28Speaker 1: I was like, now, you know, I don't want to
- 35:30Speaker 1: be rude, but I need you to leave. You know.
- 35:31Speaker 1: It was like one, two three, like this is happening,
- 35:35Speaker 1: and I've seen it, so it's different. So I guess,
- 35:37Speaker 1: I guess that's a very long winded way of saying.
- 35:40Speaker 1: In some way, from the moment I heard, I knew
- 35:43Speaker 1: you survived, and my faith was already strong, and I
- 35:47Speaker 1: knew that I had nothing to do with God wanted
- 35:49Speaker 1: to hurt any of us, and that was important. So
- 35:52Speaker 1: I had something of a knowing or a hope that
- 35:55Speaker 1: we would make it. And part of that too, Nancy
- 35:58Speaker 1: was devastating to me. I remember when one of my
- 36:01Speaker 1: friends with a widow said, he it will get better.
- 36:04Speaker 1: She was years ahead of me, and she said, it
- 36:05Speaker 1: will get better, and you won't. The missing of him
- 36:08Speaker 1: won't be so bad. And I ugly cry sobbed because
- 36:12Speaker 1: part of knowing that I wouldn't have that ache of
- 36:15Speaker 1: him being so close to my heart destroyed me too.
- 36:19Speaker 1: So the hope is good and bad at Waynes, at
- 36:21Speaker 1: ebbs and flows. I think Barbe said it best. She said,
- 36:25Speaker 1: you know they don't tell you about grief is that
- 36:27Speaker 1: it repeats in different ways. It really really does. Karen
- 36:31Speaker 1: Stark is with me, new York psychologist, joining us from
- 36:35Speaker 1: Manhattan today. Karen, I've got to tell you. Karen and
- 36:40Speaker 1: I are not just colleagues, but we've sat alone in
- 36:43Speaker 1: the dark many hours together. Now, let me explain. When
- 36:49Speaker 1: I first started as a fluke in TV with a
- 36:55Speaker 1: program called Cochrane and Grace with Johnny Cochrane, I moved
- 36:58Speaker 1: into trial coverage, live trials, and Karen would be on
- 37:02Speaker 1: the set with me, and the whole set would be
- 37:05Speaker 1: dark and would be watching a trial on the monitor,
- 37:09Speaker 1: a live trial, and then we would analyze what we
- 37:12Speaker 1: were seeing and when there would be a lull or
- 37:15Speaker 1: a break. We became very dear friends and for years
- 37:22Speaker 1: she told me I had to quote move on from
- 37:26Speaker 1: Keith's murder, but I couldn't, and everything she said was right. Karen, start,
- 37:37Speaker 1: how does anyone move on? And we're telling this with
- 37:41Speaker 1: the backdrop of this incredible movie, The Shell Collector, based
- 37:46Speaker 1: on Nancy Nagel's bestseller book available on Amazon, The Shell Collector.
- 37:54Speaker 1: How in real life, not on the silver screen? How
- 38:00Speaker 1: can you move forward? Because you know it took me
- 38:04Speaker 1: over twenty years before I could consider remarrying, and I
- 38:11Speaker 1: would not advise that to any crime victim. Well, but
- 38:15Speaker 1: nance you couldn't help. But remember, you're traumatized. So I'm
- 38:21Speaker 1: listening to these stories and so much is familiar. You're
- 38:25Speaker 1: in shock when you first get that news, and yet
- 38:28Speaker 1: a part of you is very aware of what's happening.
- 38:32Speaker 1: And I think about that chilling description of knowing ahead
- 38:36Speaker 1: of time, and that's a very real phenomenon. That's not
- 38:41Speaker 1: something that just occurs among the few people. I remember.
- 38:45Speaker 1: And was just talking to my brother about the fact
- 38:48Speaker 1: that my dad, who died at fifty. The days before
- 38:53Speaker 1: he died, we knew, we just knew there was no
- 38:56Speaker 1: reason he had been sick, but it was a long
- 38:59Speaker 1: time now afterwards, and we just called each other in
- 39:02Speaker 1: the night before he died and said, there's this cloud
- 39:05Speaker 1: over us, and we knew he would die. We just
- 39:08Speaker 1: had that feeling. The next day we're very young, and
- 39:12Speaker 1: so I feel like that's part of that connection that
- 39:15Speaker 1: you have with another person, and it's very deep, and
- 39:19Speaker 1: somehow you know when they're not going to be there anymore.
- 39:23Speaker 1: You just get it. And one of the things I'm
- 39:26Speaker 1: hearing from everybody talking about this is the help that
- 39:30Speaker 1: you need to have. If you have a faith in
- 39:33Speaker 1: God or people that really make a difference in your life,
- 39:39Speaker 1: you are with them and need to turn to them
- 39:42Speaker 1: however you need to do that. The other thing I
- 39:46Speaker 1: want to say in response to what you ask, Nancy,
- 39:49Speaker 1: is that it takes a very long time and in
- 39:53Speaker 1: some ways it never goes away, it just gets smaller.
- 39:59Speaker 1: It's always a Your love is always there. The connection
- 40:03Speaker 1: is there that you learn to live again and live
- 40:06Speaker 1: with that loss, and that's more of what happens. It's
- 40:12Speaker 1: not like you forget them. You never do, and it's
- 40:16Speaker 1: always a part of you. There's this growth of pain
- 40:20Speaker 1: that you live with and you live beyond and it
- 40:22Speaker 1: gets you to be stronger. But at first it just
- 40:26Speaker 1: feels like you can't handle it, but you do. Well.
- 40:30Speaker 1: You know, Karen Stark, You know you spent all that
- 40:33Speaker 1: time with you and I talking about could I ever
- 40:36Speaker 1: go forward, but I remember the moment I walked down
- 40:40Speaker 1: the aisle and saw David at the end of the aisle,
- 40:45Speaker 1: and everything you told me, Karen Stark was right time
- 41:05Speaker 1: Stories with Nancy Grace Nancy Nagel, the author of The
- 41:11Speaker 1: Shell Collector, did you have any idea when you were
- 41:15Speaker 1: writing that book after you gave up your corporate job,
- 41:20Speaker 1: when you're writing that book that it was going to
- 41:21Speaker 1: affect people the way it has? Um? You know, when
- 41:25Speaker 1: I first started writing at it was for me um,
- 41:29Speaker 1: but in part of kind of my healing. And you know,
- 41:32Speaker 1: you're right. I mean, the pain doesn't go away. It
- 41:35Speaker 1: definitely changes shape and texture so that we can, you know,
- 41:39Speaker 1: muddle through, but it never goes away. But as I
- 41:43Speaker 1: began getting into the story and creating it and it
- 41:47Speaker 1: started coming to life on the page, I knew in
- 41:50Speaker 1: my heart that it was a message and that God's
- 41:53Speaker 1: hands were all over it, and that he was helping
- 41:55Speaker 1: me create a story that could touch hearts and many circumstances.
- 42:01Speaker 1: Because you know, and I think we've heard it today
- 42:03Speaker 1: with Taya and Barbed too, that you know in your
- 42:06Speaker 1: personal thing, Nancy, you know, it's like we know the story,
- 42:11Speaker 1: and we kind of had the power like Dorothy and
- 42:13Speaker 1: her little red slippers that click our heels um and
- 42:16Speaker 1: it's within us all the time. And I think a
- 42:19Speaker 1: lot of that's the Holy Spirit, and it gives us
- 42:22Speaker 1: power to find the people we need to uplift us
- 42:26Speaker 1: and move on. And so yeah, I did. I feel
- 42:29Speaker 1: felt like God had special things for that book. And
- 42:31Speaker 1: when it debuted, it came out number twenty on the
- 42:34Speaker 1: ECPA bestseller list. It was my first Christian romance or
- 42:39Speaker 1: Christian women's fiction novel. And so yeah, I mean that
- 42:44Speaker 1: that just felt like, yeah, Okay, I did the right thing.
- 42:46Speaker 1: I said the right things, and you sure did, you
- 42:49Speaker 1: sure did. And Caitlin Clark, now that you were hearing
- 42:53Speaker 1: Tea and Barb all of us talking, how does it
- 42:58Speaker 1: hit you that you have been the star in such
- 43:02Speaker 1: an important movement? Well, I definitely feel very honored and
- 43:08Speaker 1: with also a great reminder the responsibility that I have
- 43:13Speaker 1: as an actress, you know, and the important part of
- 43:17Speaker 1: really going through the script and hopefully inspiring others. And
- 43:23Speaker 1: I hope you all appreciate my portrayal absolutely, Amanda, Oh
- 43:28Speaker 1: my goodness, the portrayal of the Star of Shell Collector.
- 43:36Speaker 1: I mean when you're hearing real life military widows. I mean,
- 43:42Speaker 1: that's a very big duty because you're portraying not just
- 43:46Speaker 1: the heroine of the book Shell Collector, You're portraying bits
- 43:51Speaker 1: and pieces of all the women and men that I've
- 43:55Speaker 1: turned in to military widows. Listen to the shell Collector. Hey, hey,
- 44:04Speaker 1: I got them a bit of a surprise. It's okay, Okay,
- 44:08Speaker 1: Hey you too. I got three questions for you. Do
- 44:11Speaker 1: you like to run? Yeah? Do you like to fly?
- 44:15Speaker 1: You're silly, we can't fly. Do you like monkeys? We love?
- 44:22Speaker 1: I don't phone one of those before I'll show you
- 44:24Speaker 1: how I'm prepared to be impressed on you Gotta run
- 44:31Speaker 1: with me? Or will fly? Hey? You want to give
- 44:36Speaker 1: the shot? You're doing great. I'm impressed. It was so
- 44:52Speaker 1: sweet of you. Jack and I used to fla tight
- 44:54Speaker 1: something from so all the times. Dude, it's that would
- 44:56Speaker 1: be something to make a share with him. But of
- 44:58Speaker 1: course you two had to two kite because it would
- 45:01Speaker 1: be a competition. There always was, except over you. He
- 45:06Speaker 1: never competed over you. Of course that I oways you wouldn't.
- 45:12Speaker 1: Can I ask you, Barbe, do you ever feel that
- 45:19Speaker 1: your husband is giving you messages, or is in touch
- 45:22Speaker 1: with you, or is with you every day. Oh. I
- 45:26Speaker 1: could talk for a very very long time about about that,
- 45:29Speaker 1: because the answer is very strong. Yes, in so many
- 45:32Speaker 1: different ways and so many different moments, and especially now
- 45:38Speaker 1: you know, I'm I'm engaged to an amazing man who
- 45:42Speaker 1: loves all of me. He has the same birthday as
- 45:45Speaker 1: my husband, and it's like, you know, um, and even
- 45:49Speaker 1: his kids have said he was just telling his kids
- 45:51Speaker 1: the other day, so I know. Sometimes I talked to
- 45:53Speaker 1: Lou and his two kids, or a teenager said to him, Oh,
- 45:57Speaker 1: you know that's cool because maybe Lou had a heart
- 46:00Speaker 1: in sending you to Barb. So even even they get it.
- 46:04Speaker 1: But yeah, there have been there and I think probably
- 46:08Speaker 1: if we turned this into a discussion where we all
- 46:10Speaker 1: shared our stories, I feel like we could. We would
- 46:13Speaker 1: all talk for hours about all the moments because I
- 46:15Speaker 1: don't think they're unique to me, and I feel like
- 46:17Speaker 1: everybody on this call, I agree with you. I agree
- 46:20Speaker 1: with you. Hey, have you ever felt that Chris had
- 46:24Speaker 1: has guided you or been with you at your side
- 46:28Speaker 1: over this difficult time? Yeah? I do. And it's it's
- 46:33Speaker 1: interesting because you know, my daughter was six years old,
- 46:36Speaker 1: and she's so so so close to Chris. I mean,
- 46:41Speaker 1: just in January, he's killed beginning of February and January
- 46:44Speaker 1: he left for our business trip for two days, and
- 46:46Speaker 1: her eyes filled up with tears, and she said, I
- 46:48Speaker 1: know Daddy's going to be back in two days, but
- 46:51Speaker 1: I already miss him. You know, She's just like they
- 46:53Speaker 1: were so close, and after he was killed, she had
- 46:56Speaker 1: so many spiritual experiences that she was too young to
- 47:00Speaker 1: know right, Like one of them was we were leaving,
- 47:04Speaker 1: and I had enough experience before to know that I
- 47:08Speaker 1: believe in this. And so even the first time she
- 47:11Speaker 1: asked me, was like, Mama, I feel like I hear
- 47:13Speaker 1: Daddy saying I love you, baby girl, but his voice
- 47:16Speaker 1: sounds different, and you know, so I just said, you know,
- 47:19Speaker 1: I'm sure you are, baby, and so forth. So after
- 47:22Speaker 1: Chad's memorial service, Chad was Littlefield was killed with Chris
- 47:26Speaker 1: the same day by the same person in the same moment,
- 47:29Speaker 1: And that was the first memorial service that my daughter
- 47:33Speaker 1: had been to. We went to the bathroom and we
- 47:35Speaker 1: were in the same stall before we went to the funeral,
- 47:37Speaker 1: right because she's little and she's holding this little stuffed
- 47:39Speaker 1: animal in her little dress, the tears down her face.
- 47:41Speaker 1: She was Mama said yeah, and she was, I feel
- 47:44Speaker 1: like I hear daddy saying I'm sorry, I'm sorry, baby girl,
- 47:48Speaker 1: But what is he sorry for? And I was like,
- 47:51Speaker 1: you know, if you don't know why you're hearing it,
- 47:53Speaker 1: you're not making it up, you know. And so there
- 47:57Speaker 1: were a lot of Yeah, there were a lot of
- 47:58Speaker 1: experiences like that, and a lot of um. There were
- 48:01Speaker 1: some confirmations too, where I thought, man, I I'm crazy,
- 48:04Speaker 1: like I identified with Barb two thing. Okay, I'm curing
- 48:08Speaker 1: this and feeling this, I'm seeing this. I surely I'm crazy, right,
- 48:11Speaker 1: because that's you just doubt yourself. And then I've gotten
- 48:14Speaker 1: confirmations in the most interesting ways that okay, wow, that
- 48:18Speaker 1: must have been real. And so, yes, you know, a
- 48:21Speaker 1: few stories as usual from Tea over here to answer
- 48:24Speaker 1: one simple question. But yees, you know what's so great
- 48:27Speaker 1: about the shell collect What's so great about the shell
- 48:31Speaker 1: Collectors is that you can look at it anytime you
- 48:35Speaker 1: want on Fox Nation. I'm just so proud to be
- 48:41Speaker 1: even a small part of putting this out there. To
- 48:46Speaker 1: Nancy Nagel, incredible author, Barb Alan military widow, Teya Kyle
- 48:53Speaker 1: military widow, Caitlyn Clark, the incredible actress starring in The
- 49:00Speaker 1: Shell Collector, and our friend Karen Stark. The time we
- 49:06Speaker 1: spent together today has meant so much to me, and
- 49:09Speaker 1: I know it well to everyone listening or watching right now.
- 49:12Speaker 1: I just wish we could all be together when we
- 49:15Speaker 1: watch Shell Collector on Fox Nation. But I want to
- 49:18Speaker 1: thank all of you from the bottom of my heart
- 49:21Speaker 1: and wish you all the very very best, because you
- 49:27Speaker 1: truly deserve it. God bless you. Nancy Grace signing off
- 49:32Speaker 1: good bye,