TAMPA, Fla — Nick Faklis, 91, recalls the Epiphany celebration of 1950.

"The water was fairly chilled or cold," he said.

The then 18-year-old college student was home for Christmas from Asheville, North Carolina, where he was on a football scholarship. The teen extended his holiday to dive for the cross.

Faklis said he was one of about 25 divers. "I had a feeling I was going to get the cross, I don’t know why," said Faklis.

Faklis was right. "I stopped and I was treading water and holding the cross up and one of the guys came around and tried to take it away from me," he said.

"That's how much it meant to some people, they had to fight for it. He didn't take it away, I held on to it."

Faklis still has a photo of him kneeling in front of the Archbishop for his blessing.

Seven decades later, Faklis is part of the rich history of those who can say they have received that blessing.

The father of two and retired dentist says he has been blessed.

He met his wife Anna when they were in the first grade. They've been married 56 years. And more than seventy years after jumping in that cold bayou, Faklis says he's sill holding on to that cross.

"You’re supposed to get a year of good luck by retrieving the cross but I’ve been lucky all my life," he said.