For the family of Rhondelle Cherie Tankard, the past year has been long and painful.

It is only now, on the first anniversary of her death, that the close-knit and private family is able to speak publicly of the events last September that robbed them of one of their brightest jewels.

Rhondelle had only been in New York two days when the terrorist attacks brought the World Trade Center's twin towers crashing to the ground in a series of events that would change the world for ever.

The 31-year-old had been seconded to the prestigious Manhattan office for a few weeks by her employer Aon Bermuda, and for her, it was the chance of a lifetime. She was an ambitious young woman who had been excited about her stint in The Big Apple, where she was to be given additional training in the insurance world, where she had become so highly regarded.

But, sadly, Rhondelle's fate meant it was not to be. Like so many others, she perished in the atrocities of September 11.

For Rhondelle's mother Cheryl Burrows, the hardest thing of all during this past year has been the fact that not a single part of her daughter's body, or her jewellery or belongings, has been recovered.

For the longest while, she held on to hope that her daughter would turn up, lost and confused, in a US hospital somewhere.

But then, after a while, acceptance crept in and her hopes turned to the possibility that maybe a proper burial could be held for the eldest of her three children. But, not so.

Quietly composed, but with eyes brimming with tears, Mrs. Burrows said she could at last talk about her daughter's death, but admitted that she would never get over it.

“We have not found anything to confirm that Rhondelle died there that day, and I think that is the big difference for us,” said Mrs. Burrows. “We have not been able to have any burial, and have no grave to visit. That is very hard. We have not had closure. That is what hurts.

“I think it would have been different for us if they had just found something pertaining to her. She wore jewellery, and she had a big pocket book, which we thought they may have found. But there has been nothing.

“We know that she was in the building when the attacks took place. But it seems that Rhondelle just vanished that day like a dove that just flew away.”

In Mrs. Burrows' Somerset home, there are images and reminders of Rhondelle dotted around the living room.

From one wall, Rhondelle smiles down on her family in a bigger-than-lifesize photograph that takes pride of place. Beneath it, there is a framed picture of the Twin Towers, with the words The World Trade Center 1970 to 2001.

Mrs. Burrows said the picture grabbed her attention on one of her many trips to New York in the last 12 months because, ironically, those were the years when Rhondelle, like the Twin Towers, entered and left the world.

However, Rhondelle's family does have something to treasure from that ill-fated day.

Her mother told how after the attack a businessman contacted Aon Bermuda to inform them that at the time the first tower was hit last September, he had been in a board meeting with a number of people on the 78th floor of the second tower - a meeting where Rhondelle was present. He said the meeting was called to an abrupt end, but said before everyone left, Rhondelle had passed him her business card.

He said he never saw the young woman again, but offered to send that business card to Bermuda, so it could be passed on to Rhondelle's family.

Mrs. Burrows, a dressmaker, said maybe one day she may try to contact the man, but for now she was simply concentrating on her family and herself.

But she said she knew deep inside one thing about the way Rhondelle died that her daughter's spirit and faith in God would have carried her through the situation and helped countless others. Breaking into a wide smile, she said: “I knew Rhondelle and I know for a fact that she will have taken hold of people's hands around her, and either prayed or sang a song.

“She loved to sing and her belief and faith was so strong. Her spirit will have helped others.

“We don't know where she went after she left the board meeting, but I think that maybe she was on one of the floors that was directly hit by the second plane and that is why they have not found anything.

“We have a lot of questions, but, as a family, we help each other get through it. We were close before, but we are even closer now. We are healing each other over time.”

When Rhondelle died last year, she left behind her mother Cheryl, father Rudolph Bean, stepfather Roger Burrows, brother Zane Burrows and sister Rahjee Burrows, along with doting grandparents, aunts, uncles and cousins, and numerous friends.

But among the people to be hit hardest by her death was Rhondelle's paternal grandmother Gloria Bean, who she lived with prior to her death and had been especially close to all of her life.

Just a matter of days before a service to celebrate Rhondelle's life was held on December 2 last year, her beloved grandmother passed away.

The family claimed she died of a broken heart and had believed she had little else to live for.

Mrs. Burrows remembered her first-born as a loveable child who was always looking out for others. She was devoted to her grandmother and family, and a committed and dedicated churchgoer, who wrote and sang church songs and was a member of a number of gospel choirs on the Island.

But although sweet in nature and kind of heart, Rhondelle was a strong woman and not afraid to speak her mind. An extremely private person, her whole life was devoted to the close people around her and her church.

“It's unbelievable, in the short time that she had, she was able to achieve so very much,” said her mother.

“She was never a negative person, and if there was something she wanted in life, she would go for it. Rhondelle was looking forward to going to New York. She loved to shop, and she thought it was a great opportunity for her work. Me and her sister were planning to go and visit her. We never told her, but we had it all planned. We thought we could all shop together, but it was not to be.”

Mrs. Burrows recalled the day she heard about the attacks on the World Trade Center, and how she constantly called Rhondelle's cell phone in the hope that she would pick it up, or maybe it would be heard by someone nearby. After a while, she said she and her family realised Rhondelle would not answer, but they called it all the same, just to listen to her voice-mail greeting.

And she remembered how in the first desperate days after the ill-fated day, how she and family members lit candles and held hands in their yard, praying that Rhondelle would be found safe from harm.

“I know now that she is gone, but I'm still waiting for her to come home,” said a softly spoken Mrs. Burrows.

“There is always a reason why everything takes place, but deep down, I always ask ‘why'?

“I talk to Rhondelle often, and I have tapes of her singing that I like to listen to. It does not get easier, but I feel better now that I can talk about it. It took me until April to talk about what happened. I don't dread the anniversary, but I didn't realise it was so close. It seems like yesterday that we lost her.

“Everything is a healing process for us, but I always knew that we if got through the first year, we could get through the years to come.”

Mrs. Burrows has been to New York about 13 times since last September in a bid to find information and gain some comfort from her situation.

Where she will be on the anniversary today, she said she did not know. She would go where the mood took her.

“I have no problem going to New York. That is where my child was lost and that is the place that she loved.

“I feel close to her there. That is where I get my peace.”