Today marks 17 years since the worst terrorist attack happened in the United States. September 11th has become a day that no one will ever forget.
I personally didn’t know anyone that fell victim or was injured during the attacks in New York, Pennsylvania, or Virginia. I had just turned 18 years old two days before this catastrophic event happened and I was horrified how scary the world really can be. I was in my first week of college, and ironically enough, I was in history class. Little did I know history would be made that day.
Just like I have my own story of that day, everyone else does as well. Zelina Vega remembers that day vividly and it changed her life forever.
Renee Young had a sit down interview with New York native Vega. Vega grew up in Queens, NY.
At the age of 10 on that fateful day, her father, Michael Angel Trinidad, called her mother. Vega, being out of school due to a doctor’s appointment, heard her mother pacing back and forth downstairs while on the phone. Her mother, Monique Ferrer, turned on the news on the television and could not believe what was happening.
Trinidad was on the 103rd floor of the North Tower at the World Trade Center.
He let Ferrer know he was not going to make it as the plane crashed below him and to tell the kids he loved them. Vega’s parents were divorced at the time, but Trinidad and Vega’s step father were good friends. Trinidad spoke to Vega’s step father and told him he knows that he will love his kids and become a father to them.
Vega’s father did not know that Vega was there that day. He did not know that Vega could have spoken to him and could have said goodbye. With tears in her eyes, Vega explains that it took her a while to get past the fact that she could have said goodbye to her dad and she did not. She reminisced about the weekend before 9/11 and how she had a vacation with her dad in New Jersey. She considers that moment as her goodbye to him because of the amazing time they had together.
Between so much depression and denial it has taken Vega a lot time to grasp what happened and why it happened. She heard everything on the phone that her father told her mother on that day. It took her until around the age of 15 years old to comprehend what her and her father loved so much together, and that was wrestling.
Her dad was an amateur wrestler and always wanted to be a WWE wrestler. His favorite wrestler was The Rock. This is what caused Vega to pursue a wrestling career. She is able to share this with her dad forever and make her own history in the WWE.
Lilian Garcia also interviewed Vega on her Chasing Glory podcast about losing her father. This can be listened to below:
Everyone here at Diva Dirt has Vega and her family in our thoughts today. Let’s all stand as one, not just on this day, but everyday. Never Forget 9/11/01.
