More than 100 congressional bills have been proposed in the wake of the disaster, political leaders have called for safety reforms, and the finger-pointing has been endless. Utah convened its own mine safety commission and Gov. Jon Huntsman Jr. vowed to shepherd new policies and procedures through the creation of a new office and a new director.

In the meantime, coal production is down in Utah, as is mine-related employment.

Life continues in Huntington, the town at the epicenter of the disaster, but the impact of Crandall Canyon is never far from the collective consciousness of the community, according to Emery County Sheriff LaMar Guymon.

"The families, I am sure, will have this embedded, engraved in their minds forever because of the losses they have suffered," he said.

"If you watch them, they're still in the grieving process at this point ... You don't know what to do or what to say, other than just to give them space and fulfill whatever requests they come to you with. Some of them just need to talk — some of them just need to ask questions," Guymon said. "Widows have a tough time adjusting. There's a lot of — I don't know — there's a lot of things."

Guymon's crew will probably stand guard again as family members gather during a private ceremony Wednesday near the mine. At the site there's a walkway in place that leads up to a new monument between two towering pine trees, meant to commemorate the nine lives lost here.

"Time is a great healer," said Huntington Mayor Hilary Gordon. "Time stood still a year ago. Literally for two weeks or more, time stood still.

"Life does go on," she added. "I don't think it has for the families."

Love and loss

For Wendy Black, whose husband died trying to rescue the six trapped miners, life has been about missing her husband, who is always in her thoughts.

The two were married for 25 years. Together they raised a son, Corey, now 18, and daughter, Ashley, now 23, who is married and has moved out of the house.

"Ashley really struggles," Black said. "She was 'Daddy's little girl."'

It says as much on Dale's headstone, which also reads, "Corey, Dad's little buddy."

Corey keeps a lot inside. Except his career plans. He will not mine.

"No, not no more," Corey said.

He used to think he'd go underground for the higher wages mining can bring.

"When you live around here, that's all you have, that and the power plant," said Corey, who lives at home, works two jobs and plans on taking classes to learn how to weld.

His mother chimes in, recalling how her own father died in a mine when she was 8. "We're going to stop it now," she said about Corey not becoming a miner.

"I thought it was safe," Corey said.

His father didn't talk much about the dangers, particularly at Crandall Canyon. Corey has since heard otherwise. "I didn't know it was that bad," he said.

In fact, there were two "bounces" in March 2007