Nicholas Adam Sprovtsoff, Semper Fi

I was 11 the year you were born and I couldn't wait to meet my baby cousin. You guys came down to stay with us over 4th of July and you were so tiny we pulled a drawer out of the dresser to make you a crib.

When you joined the Marines we were so proud, you were tough and we knew it. I liked having someone in our own family fighting for our freedom and protection.


As the deployments came and went and through the multiple cross country moves and the schools and the training and the advancements to your career, the important things stayed the same.

Our son Noah with his Uncle Nicky, Thanksgiving 2007

You were tough but you had the sweetest soul. So easy to know and love. You cared about relationships and people.

When you met and married Tasha we were thrilled all that love was being poured into another sweet soul. She is strong and bright and full of grace and she understands Sprovtsoff love.

Nick with his sweet first born baby girl, Lanie

The night of my 40^th birthday we found out you weren't coming home.

The phone rang just before 2 a.m. and I sat straight up in bed. I heard my brother’s voice break and I knew something was coming, but not this. 

This was your fifth deployment and no matter how dangerous the mission, you always came home.



Afghanistan seemed so far away, but there we were just 8 days later gathered at Arlington National Cemetery. Tasha with her belly round and full of life, a baby boy coming soon.

The Caisson

It came as no surprise when I learned at your funeral you took the Iron Man Award at the Basic Reconnaissance Course. Of course, you did. You were tough.

And learning that the Bronze Star with "V" Device you earned in Afghanistan in 2007 should have been a Silver Star except for an administrative error, again no surprise for a valiant warrior.

Seasoned, mature, physically fit. MARSOC Marine.

I still have your cell phone number in my speed dial and the matching dresses the girls wore to your funeral still hang in their closet. It's been a year today, maybe it's time to let those go.

October 2009, we all met at my Dad's while Nick was at EOD school.

Thank you for your service, Nick. But most of all thank you for loving us well. I'm glad we don't have to let that go.

Tasha, Lanie and baby Nicholas Tank Summer 2012