Five years ago this evening, I was being given the Last Rites and airlifted to Rochester with a brain hemorrhage. My chances for survival, much less living a normal life afterward, were not good. Scrolling through my family’s updates on my GoFundMe page reminds me of how serious the situation actually was.

And now here I am, five years later. Those five years have been among the best of my life. I got married to the best wife I could ever ask for. I got to teach again and even got to begin doing it full time at a Catholic high school. I’ve made new friends. I’ve gotten to be a part of numerous family gatherings and have been around to welcome an additional five nieces and nephews into the Kaminsky family.

I would like to take this opportunity to once again thank everyone who was there for me and my family during those cold, dark, and extremely trying 36 days beginning on Christmas Eve, 2015. The outpouring of support, including the prayers, donations, and hospital visits, still amazes me. Truly, I have been blessed with kind and generous people in my life, and I am reminded today of how grateful I am for all of them.