The family of Rhys Jones have sent an open letter to the people of Liverpool thanking them for their compassion since the 11-year-old's death.
Rhys' parents Melanie and Stephen and his brother Owen, 18, published the letter a week after Sean Mercer was jailed for life for the murder.
Rhys was shot dead by Mercer on 22 August 2007 in Croxteth.
The family revealed they had been comforted in their "darkest days" by thousands of letters from strangers.
Rhys' family said they would be spending this festive season quietly as it was "not a time for celebration".
"Many letters were simply prayers, brief words of support without a name or address," the letter said.
"But every single one of them helped us more than we can ever express and we have tried to answer them all."
'Love and care'
Within a few days of Rhys' killing, the family said they began to receive post from as far away as Japan.
The family wrote: "The people of Liverpool have taken Rhys to their hearts and to know they love and care for him too helps us enormously."
"It is the people in this city that make it special - in our minds there is no other place like it where the people feel your pain and sorrow."
"We miss him now more than ever and, although he now has justice, that pain will never go away"
Mercer was imprisoned for life at Liverpool Crown Court, and told he would serve a minimum of 22 years for killing the young Everton fan.
In the 18 months since the tragedy the family recalled how "kind acts of strangers in this city stand out in our minds".
One woman brought them a lasagne for dinner and on another occasion a man arrived with biscuits and teabags.
And the Jones family also recalled "the football fans at Anfield who clapped us when Z Cars was played and put their red arms around us."
In the open letter, published in the Liverpool Echo, they said: "For us, the festive period, even knowing Rhys' murderer is now behind bars, will not be a time for celebration.
"We will spend it quietly, with those closest to us, but without Rhys, Christmas will never be the same.
"We miss him now more than ever and, although he now has justice, that pain will never go away.
"We can only hope that we find the strength to re-build our lives without him and we are sure the love, goodwill and compassion of the people of Liverpool will help us achieve that."
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