Video: McKibben Family Remembers Son’s Life

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MABEN, Miss. (WCBI)- Phillip McKibben and his family walk through their yard, until they reach an area that means the most to them.

“The day Larry was born, I went to a friends house and dug up a shoot of bamboo and planted it and we’ve watched it grow and watched it flourished during the years. It’s fascinating because that’s Larry’s bamboo,” said McKibben.

It’s a reminder of his son who’s recently passed on.

“When they left his mom asked him not to be late and they were heading out, it was about 8:00 p.m. and they were on the way home and they never made it back to Gore Springs,” said McKibben.

Larry was coming back from celebrating his younger brother’s birthday, when he lost control of his Toyota 4 Runner on a sharp curve in Grenada County.

“On the scene at the accident they asked me to identify his body and, that was difficult but the interesting thing to me was when I saw his body, just the lack of emotion I felt because as soon as I saw his body, it wasn’t my son. It was his body but Larry wasn’t there. So I don’t see anything to cause me trauma or pain or suffering..and he felt no pain or trauma or suffering. We feel the loss of not having him there, but there is no loss of Larry,” said McKibben.

Phillip remembers his son as a shy, reserved young man to strangers, but he was full of life when he got around those he loved.

“Every picture that you see of him, you see his eyes and those eyes, they’re riveting. He was a very kind and I think everybody that knows him, knows that to be true,” said McKibben.

And despite the hurt, Phillip knows his Larry is in a better place.

“The sadness is we don’t have him around, the shock is pretty gripping, but, he’s gone. And when we see him again, that’s gonna be a happy time. And we’re looking forward to it,” said McKibben.

For now, they’ll look to Larry’s beautiful Bamboo trees as they stretch towards heaven, where Larry is no doubt, waiting.

Services for McKibben will be tomorrow at Emmanuel Baptist Church in Starkville. Visitation will be from 12 to 3pm. The funeral will begin at 3.

Categories: Local News

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