‘Some scars are for ever’: the grief of losing a child to gun violence during the holidays

From left: Sparkle Davis and her sister, Georgette Rivera-Leon and her husband, Brenda Grisham. Photograph: Rachel Bujalski, Jessica Pons, Marissa Leshnov/The Guardian

Ramon Price makes sure he’s working on Thanksgiving and Christmas.

He’s a counselor at a funeral home in Oakland, California, where for the past 18 years he’s helped hundreds of families navigate grief, death certificates, insurance and casket selections. About half of them lost loved ones in a homicide, usually with a firearm.