About Nik
Nikolai was an old soul. As a very small child he was interested in standard things like cars,
and construction vehicles and trains. But he was obsessed with the details. Cars had to be
all lined up perfectly. As a three-year -old he knew specific train parts like traction rods and
cattle catchers. He was so smart and always teaching about whatever he was interested in!
By seven years old he was fascinated by war strategy, and he started obsessing over all the
details of World War II. He knew dates and geographic locations and types of tanks and
aircraft.
I specifically remember one summer day when he was around seven years old, Nikolai came
out of his room after reading one of his WWII books, and exclaimed: “It’s Guadalcanal Day!
Today’s the same date as the Battle of Guadalcanal!” Oh my gosh! He was so excited! He insisted we celebrate! So of course we had to have a Guadalcanal party! He drew pics and
taped them up. I found some red, white and blue décor and put it out. Hiram grilled hotdogs,
and we called Nana and Papa over to celebrate.
That’s the kind of kid Nikolai was-he
LOVED history. He loved learning and sharing what he learned. Once he became obsessed
with WWII aircraft, tanks and battle strategy, that was it. He learned all sorts of details. He
collected uniforms and helmets and gas masks. He absolutely resonated with that period of
history. For his 16th birthday, we threw a 1940s themed party. Everyone dressed up, and we
even distributed rations to his friends.
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His love of old things did not stop with WWII memorabilia. As he got older, he loved old
records and old record players. He had an old victrola and shellac records. He got excited
listening to old music. Glen Miller and the Ink Spots were notable favorites for sure! He
played trumpet at Petal Middle School and Petal High School, so he had a love for old
trumpets too. He was known to use a glass Coca-Cola bottle as a trumpet mute a
time or two! Ha!
For his first car he insisted he needed an old car. We tried so hard to talk him out of it. We
tried to tell him how impractical it was for college. But that was his passion. He needed to
connect to history. We found a 1964 Chevy Corvair in Jackson, Mississippi. Nikolai bought it, and he and his dad hauled it down to Petal, MS. That car sat in our driveway from May to
October. It took the whole family to get that car in decent shape to drive. Nikolai finally drove
the Corvair to school October of his senior year of high school. The Corvair changed his life.
He learned so many lessons from fixing up that car, and he LOVED the attention he received
when he drove it. Passersby would stop to greet him and ask about the car. He would talk for
an hour or two with complete strangers. He learned to really love meeting new people. He
loved connecting.
He was dedicated to his country and believed all people should serve their country by
participating in military duty. Most of Nikolai’s adolescent years he dreamed of being a pilot in
the United States Air Force. He did get to fly a small plane for his 15th birthday, and that
solidified his passion for flying. He LOVED flying! He joined the University of Southern
Mississippi Air Force ROTC program as a college freshman. He finally felt he found his
people. He loved his cadre. Just before he passed away, he had begun pondering a career in
military intelligence. He was learning the Russian language for almost an entire year before he passed. He could read Russian, and he was practicing every day, so he could become fluent.
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He always spoke of different business ideas. There were so many things he wanted to sell or
create. I’m very proud to say that he did launch a biz just a month before he passed.
Here are some words from his boss, Abby Thaxton of The Lucky Rabbit, written the day he passed:
“Every day for months, he talked to me about his plans to sell items at the store, like military memorabilia and foreign things. He would talk and talk about these 'plans', but I never saw a final product. I eventually said to him, 'Nikolai, you need to put something together, and when you have a product to sell, I will make a place for you.' Of course, we had talked about ideas for so long that I doubted if he would come up with anything to sell. A week or two later, he came back to me with a fantastic idea. His product concept was a group of random foreign bills from all over the world packaged neatly at a set price. He meticulously worked to perfect his packaging, and he knocked it out of the park. Whenever I would start to doubt the kid, he would blow me away.”
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You can find his collectible, foreign bills for sale at The Lucky Rabbit or in our online store.
As Nikolai’s mom, I could write and write and write about Nikolai, and I’ll have to just keep
adding stories to this site over time as I remember or find an old picture. As I’m typing this…
I’m thinking… what about the retro sodas he loved and his new passion for hot tea and
cooking foreign food, and what about that time he loved dinos & read Michael Crichton’s
Jurassic Park (before he was even in Middle School) or was obsessed with Sonic the Hedgehog or Legos & built Lego tanks or all the video game playing and his passion for the Fallout games... How do you capture 18.75 years on a website…? If you've taken time to read this far, I do hope you will continue to explore this site, look at his photos, read the stories, and learn what a great impact he made is just a short time on this planet. If you have a story about Nikolai, or a lesson or fact you learned from him, please reach out to us. We always want to hear from Nikolai's friends, peers and acquaintances.
Notes about his death
In our western culture, we don’t want to talk of death. It’s considered morbid to discuss how people died, how they were found, etc… Because we don’t talk of death, we make death such a shocking thing to face. Death is natural. We will all die. All of our loved ones will die. We are only here on Earth in this life a very short while. It may seem to drag on in some parts of our lives, but really, it goes by in a flash. You blink and you’re out of high school or your kids are grown or your sister looks old. It really goes by so very fast. We need to speak of death more. It’s a very natural part of life. Part of facing death is really embracing life. Being in the moment NOW and living intentionally and not just assuming you’re going to keep on living. You don’t have to be afraid. Just LIVE. Nikolai LIVED. He lived a life of adventure. He had big plans and did big things. He wanted to do so many things.
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It’s natural to ask how such a vibrant young man died. The official cause of death is a pulmonary embolism. He had a blood clot that the doctor believed originated in his lung, and it moved to his heart and stopped his heart. I found Nikolai about 430am. He looked asleep on the floor. He was already gone. I found out later that he had been on the phone with a friend until about 330am. It really seems he passed away happy. He had a great conversation with his friend, and he was working on his banknote business when his heart suddenly stopped. There was absolutely no sign of struggle or trauma. He was here, and then he was just gone, like he went to sleep. Nikolai had a physical exam about six months prior, and he was watching his nutrition and physical activity. Over the last 18months of his life, he dropped about 60lbs. He was really working hard to be in good physical shape for a military career. Blood clots don’t care. They are sneaky bastards. According to stoptheclot.org: “100,000 to 300,000 deaths from blood clots occur each year, which is greater than the total number of people who lose their lives each year to AIDS, breast cancer, and motor vehicle crashes combined.” Please take the time to do some research on blood clots. In many cases, medical intervention can save a life.