Army dad surprises daughters after return from deployment

Posted

Laurence Manning Academy students Kerstin and Taryn Sporinsky didn't suspect a thing on Tuesday when told they were needed outside. A teacher simply told them she needed their assistance.

But work wasn't waiting; their father was. Army Sgt. Nick Sporinsky surprised his daughters with his unexpected return from deployment.

Sixth-grade Kerstin and eighth-grade Taryn had their suspicions after walking out the school's doors. After all, they spotted fellow students holding up "Welcome Home" signs. They immediately became emotional.

The puzzled looks on their faces turned into anxious expressions as they waited to see what was going to happen. As they watched their father appear, both daughters teared up as they hugged their dad.

Children giggled as they held the banner they had made and signed in their classrooms. Screeches, laughter and applauding echoed as students and faculty members watched the Sporinsky family greeted each other with hugs.

"I just want to spend time with him when we get home," Taryn said after the reunion.

Kerstin agreed, wiping away tears.

Sporinsky was stationed at Camp Arifjan in Kuwait for six months, which has been his shortest tour compared to earlier tours.

“I wanted to surprise my daughters this time because each time that I have been deployed, my return has always been very staged and scripted,” he said. “This is my fifth deployment and it is the one time that I get to surprise them. I am very exctied about it.”

Olivia Sporinsky said that even though this has been her husband's shortest deployment, it has been the most challenging.

“Our girls have always been homeschooled and this is the first year they have attended school; then I had emergency surgery,” she said. “This has all been a huge adjustment.”

Nick said he wanted to be a soldier since the age of 8. After getting married to Olivia on a Saturday, he left for his first deployment on a Monday.

"I couldn't have asked for a better partner or wife than the one I have in Olivia," he said. "She has been a dedicated military wife and a great mother."

Video chatting has played a big part in the Sporinskys' lives during Nick's deployment. He said that with each deployment the technology just gets better, making it easier for the girls to talk to him via computer.

The eight-hour time difference has not made it difficult; they work around it.

“Back in 2003, there was less than a handful of phone calls during a six-month period,” Olivia said. “Four handwritten letters were all we could manage and maybe five or six phone calls. When Nick left on his longest deployment, one of our kids was a toddler and the other 1 month old. On his return home, she had grown so much it was like he was coming home to a different child. Now that the technology is better, we get to keep in touch more.”