WILMORE, Ky.– Kristen Kuveikis stands in a room, surrounded by her past.

In her hands, she holds a heavy metal cross made of steel from the twin towers, two buildings that no longer exist.

She brushes her fingers over the rough edges of the cross and makes a comment about the heaviness of the object.

Beside her stands a glass display case. Although the items in the case all vary by size, shape and color, their history is what connects them to the cabinet they reside in.

As Kristen looks up from the cross, she is greeted by a large painting on the wall to her left.

The painting reveals the portrait of a man: Thomas Kuveikis, a firefighter who died in the line of duty on Sept. 11, 2001.

That man is Kristen’s father.

Growing up, Kristen said she always had a close bond with her father.

“I knew I was loved by him,” Kristen said. “I was his world. Ever since I was a baby I was his absolute world.”

Born in the state of New York, Kristen grew up in the small town of Carle Place, only a 45-minute drive away from the bustle of New York City.

“It was just a nice quiet town, if you think New York is quiet,” Kristen said. “Like how Wilmore is. Just a small, local community.”

Although Kristen moved to Kentucky with her mother when she was 10, her father would still make sure to find activities for the two of them to enjoy together, whether it was in Kentucky, New York or even a different country.

“One of my most favorite memories was going to the Canadian Rockies to Banff National Park,” Kristen said. “He loved nature. And so we shared that together when hiking.”

Thomas, who became a firefighter in 1977, was a member of Squad 252 of the New York City Fire Department from Brooklyn, serving a total of 24 years before his passing.

On the morning of Sept. 11, Kristen, only 18 at the time, found herself at work in Lexington when the first tower was hit.

“Everyone was like, ‘Your dad’s a firefighter, is he okay?’” Kristen said. “And I was like, ‘Oh yeah he’s not at work.”

It was not until hours following the initial attack that Kristen received a phone call from her aunt that would permanently change her life.

Kristen’s father was missing.

“He ended up switching shifts with his friend,” Kristen said.

Despite the 24 years that have passed since Sept. 11, Thomas’ remains are still yet to be found.

“I just had hope for the longest time that they were going to find him,” Kristen said. “And they never did.”

According to Kristen, Thomas’s squad of six was one of the first stations to arrive on the site and rescue victims of the attack.

“Three went into one building, and three went into the other,” Kristen said. “They found the three in one building, and they didn’t find any of the three in the building that he went to.”

Although Kristen’s father was missing from her life, a way to push through her grief and pain was found.

“I know he’s always here for me. He’s always watching over me,” Kristen said. “He was a very strong person and that’s where I get my strength from, it’s from him.”

Now the mother of 15-year-old high school junior, Aiden Hall, Kristen said she uses her newfound strength to pass down her father’s legacy to her son, making sure she teaches Hall about qualities her father valued during his lifetime.

“He (Thomas) was strong, a good person and caring,” Kristen said. “As you grow older, a lot of these kids nowadays don’t have manners, and I want him (Hall) to be respectful.”

Together, Kristen and Hall even recreate some of the adventures she and her father went on, such as going to waterparks and concerts together.

Although nearly 25 years have passed since his death, Kristen still manages to find pieces of her father in every aspect of her life.

“I constantly see 252. The time, a road sign, an address. I’m a nurse practitioner and I’ve had weights that are 252.” Kristen said. “It’s constant. Almost every day. And if I don’t see 252, I see either 9/11 or I see 343, which was the number of firefighters that passed away that day.”

Fueled by the constant reminder of her father’s love for her, Kristen said she knows she has made her father proud.

“He would be so proud,” Kristen said. “I know that his friends and my uncles tell me all the time how proud he would be.”

Although Kristen mourns her father, she also knows her father would not have faced the Sept. 11 attacks in any other way.

“He died doing exactly what he loved,” Kristen said. “He would not have left that building that day without every single person coming out of that building.”

In an upstairs guest room of her home, Kristen stands in front of the glass display case once more.

Over the years, what was once a simple reminder of her father and his story has now become a memorial for his legacy.

Now, Kristen is not just simply surrounded by the past. She is surrounded by her future, too. And her father will always be a part of that.