Officer Barry Eastman, 31, was killed in a car crash earlier this year.
A Washington D.C. family preparing for their first Christmas without their dad and husband has been given a special gift by the police department he served to ensure that a part of him remains with them for the holiday.
It meant the world to Violet and Asher Eastman, both 5, to be given teddy bears made from their late father’s police uniform months after his passing, their mother Jennifer Eastman said.
“My kids were thrilled to receive them,” she told WJLA-TV. “They love talking about their dad and they’re really proud of him.”
Barry Eastman, 31, was killed when his car crashed into a tractor-trailer after driving into the center lane on Route 32 in Clarksville, Md., on Sept. 25, authorities said.
He would have turned 32 the next week. His twins celebrated their fifth birthday less than two weeks earlier.
“I lost my best friend and my children lost their protector, their hero, their daddy,” Jennifer Eastman wrote on Facebook several days after her husband’s passing. “He lives only in our hearts now and I just don't know how to reconcile that.”
Barry Eastman served in the Third District of the Metropolitan Police, which remained close to his wife and children after his death.
On Tuesday, cops dropped off two teddy bears made by a fellow officer, Rebecca Werner.
The bears’ eyes were made from Barry Eastman’s uniform buttons, their feet adorn Metropolitan Police patches and they are both donning neckties, just as an officer would.
“A fellow 3D officer handmade these stuffed animals... They’ll go to Eastman’s two kids,” the police department wrote on Twitter. “He loved helping others including through community coat drives for those in need.”
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