Reflecting on a lost son

Lynn Little was just happy to have the time he did with Kris Higdon before the 25-year-old died Tuesday fighting in Iraq.

In the last three years, Little grew closer to his biological son than he ever been before.

Multiple phone calls a week, visits with Kris’ 4-year-old daughter, Kacie, and dinners in Midland highlighted a revived relationship.

“What impressed me the most was his family,” Little said. “That always came first for him. Nothing was going to get in between that. He was a good person.”

A roadside bomb killed the U.S. Army staff sergeant during his second tour of duty. He’d been in the military for nearly eight years.

Upon graduating from Permian High, Higdon enlisted in the Army and almost immediately went to basic training in Georgia.

Little, 46, learned of Higdon’s death almost immediately from Ronda Higdon, Kris’ mother.

“I can’t make up for the time I missed, but the time I had was worth it,” Little said of his firstborn.

The Higdon family will have a memorial service at 10 a.m. today at Sherwood Church of Christ in Odessa.

“He always did what he believed in,” Little said. “Every time he did something, it was something right.”