They say a picture can speak a thousand words, and no truer phrase has been spoken when you look at the picture taken at the funeral of Bermudian World Trade Center victim Boyd Gatton.

The sight of a tiny, children's white casket is always tragic and heart-wrenching, but the horrendous events of September 11 are clearly depicted in this image taken in July.

Boyd's family were among the fortunate of the victims' loved ones for some of his remains were actually recovered at Ground Zero in Lower Manhattan.

And although they were only body parts, the family was able to at least lay their beloved Boyd to rest with dignity at a small and private cemetery near his home in Jersey City.

His sister, Pauline O'Connor, and Boyd's close-knit family said it was then when they were finally able to feel some closure to the heartbreak they had felt through the ten months prior.

Ms O'Connor, who also lost her only other sibling, her sister Sharon Smith, a matter of weeks after the terrorist attacks to cancer, said she was grateful to have had the opportunity to bury her brother.

"I came back from burying the remains of my brother and I began to grieve," she said.

"At the end of June, the Police arrived at our door and said eight parts of his body had been found. It appears he had been crushed.

"After it first happened, we thought he had been directly hit. He was working on the 97th floor of the second of the Twin Towers to be hit, so we believed his office would have been one of those directly affected. We never thought there would be a body.

"So, when we were told he had been crushed, I felt quite bad about it because I had believed his death had been instantaneous. I could not bear to think that he had suffered and now I know that he did.

"The funeral was bittersweet. It was bitter because our ray of hope that we would find him alive had gone, and it was sweet because we realised that we could close this chapter and move on."

However, she said although the family was only informed at the end of June that some of Boyd's remains had been found, they were actually discovered in October of last year. Some were found at Ground Zero, and others were uncovered at the debris sorting depot in Staten Island.

She said although they were able to match up his body parts, they were unable to inform the family straight away because of delays in setting up and using the DNA computer file containing family details.

Ms O'Connor said although the family had some closure, the wound would always remain open to some degree.

She added: "I think we have let it go - we had to, but when you think that I lost a sister and a brother in a matter of weeks, and my mother lost two of her three children, I don't think the pain will ever really go away."

Ms O'Connor said they had kept Boyd's burial a quiet affair, but she said now she felt ready to tell other people who cared for him.

"We want his friends to know that he had a dignified burial. We were not disappointed that more of his remains were not found. We were just grateful for the opportunity to give him what he deserved."

Boyd was working for Fiduciary Trust Company in the World Trade Center when the Twin Towers were hit by suicide plane hijackers last September.

A former student of East End Primary School and Saltus Grammar School, where he was nicknamed Professor, he had left Bermuda ten years previous to begin a new career in New York.

During his time there, he moved to an apartment in a leafy area of Jersey City and made many friends.

He was a workaholic, but loved talking to people and enjoyed a number of hobbies, including carpentry, photography, reading, Tai Chi and the Cincinnati Masonic Lodge.

After the tragic events of September 11 unfolded, his sister Ms O'Connor travelled with her daughter Rukiya to look for her brother, and, afterwards, to pack up his belongings.

Apart from a brief spell when she returned to Bermuda just prior to her sisters' death, Ms O'Connor spent three months in his apartment, sorting out his affairs and officially tying up his life.

There she was presented with a death certificate that read the same as every other September 11 victim - "cause of death: homicide".

Without her sister Sharon to lean on and go to for advice, it was tough for Ms O'Connor, but she said now there was no more organising to do, she felt the void in her life even more.

"We have managed to pull ourselves together with the support of each other during the last year," she added.

"The most difficult thing is facing the future without my brother and sister. Our world was torn apart. I'm trying to put a puzzle back together when two of the major pieces are missing.

"It does get easier when you start getting back into the normal way of things. For the longest time, their deaths were all I could think about.

"But I'm back at work now, and my two grandchildren, Aizaya and Elysha, have definitely been the greatest blessing in healing. They represent new life, and they keep us entertained with their antics.

"They don't know any evil, and that is a wonderful thing."

After the first of the Twin Towers was hit, Boyd called his sister Sharon and left a message on her voicemail at home, urging his family not to worry because he was fine, and telling them that he loved them.

Moments later, the second tower was hit, and Boyd was unable to make it out in time.

His family have always believed that if he had not waited to call home, he, too, may have been able to get to safety.

They have saved the tape with his last few words to them, but to this day, Boyd's sister and mother have not listened to it.

Ms O'Connor said: "I want people to see that we are doing alright, and then maybe it will strike in them." Boyd's mother, Betty, who is 74, said the anniversary today would be difficult, but said she and her family would be spending the day together with close friends and relatives.

They had chosen not to visit New York.

She said: "It would have been Boyd's 40th birthday on October 8 this year, and I know that if he had not come here to celebrate, we would have gone to see him.

"This year on his birthday, we will remember him and we will thank God for his life, and for his 38 years that we shared with him.

"We have found the year very difficult, but we have pulled together. We have supported each other."

For Ms O' Connor and her mother, they feel no anger, however, the eldest of Boyd's nieces Kenderee Gatton, said she is sometimes wracked with bitterness.

"I'm angry because my uncle is not here anymore, simply because of someone's stupidity and someone's beliefs," said Ms Gatton."My uncle is on my mind every day, but sometimes I forget that he has gone. Something happens, and I think 'oh, I should call Uncle Boyd'.

"Right before September 11, I remember thinking I should call Uncle Boyd, but for some reason or another, I didn't get around to it. I really wish I had now."

His niece Shalynn said she had found the year difficult without her mother and her uncle.

"I don't want to go to Ground Zero," she said. "But going to the funeral for Boyd was my closure."

But for the youngest of his three nieces, Rukiya, the publicity surrounding September 11 is just getting too much.

She said: "Honestly, I'm tired of hearing about it. I'm sick of seeing it. From when it happened, I have been tired of reading about it in the newspaper and of seeing it on TV. Of course, it was going to have that much coverage, but it was hard for families involved.

"Imagine how people felt when they did not know anyone involved, and then imagine how people felt when they had lost someone close. The impact was so much greater. For us, it will never go away."