Sequels of ’95 : They...

Dealing with the July 3 death of her 6-year-old son has only become more difficult, says Andrea Raggette. “The numbness is gone now, so I feel more pain. . . . Right now, I’m living all on faith.”

Daniel Raggette was shot to death while shopping with his mother and grandmother in a Los Angeles balloon store (“Daniel’s Song,” Aug. 18). David Williams was arrested and awaits trial in the case.

This was the family’s first Christmas without Daniel.

“The things we used to love, driving around looking at Christmas lights, I hate now,” Raggette says. “He and my dad would go out and pick out the Christmas tree and bring it home and decorate it. Daniel hated the feel of tinsel, but he would be right in there putting it on the tree. Then we’d chase him around the house with it, and he’d run around laughing.”

Raggette has enrolled in child development classes, which begin in the spring. But she has not gone for counseling, she says, because she doesn’t feel ready. She doesn’t want to let go of her only child.

“I can still hear his voice, and I’m afraid a therapist might say, ‘That’s not really his voice that you’re hearing, that’s your mind.’ There’s still so much closeness that I can feel between us, and I’m afraid counseling will cause more of a separation than I have right now.”