LEWISVILLE — Witherby Lane is lined with brown brick houses and green, neatly trimmed lawns. The suburban Lewisville neighborhood is uniform and picturesque, and its homeowners association works hard to ensure it stays that way.

The Ragan family experienced this firsthand after asking to install a special mailbox in their front yard to help their two young daughters deal with the sudden death of their infant sister in December.

Their HOA denied the request last month before reversing course and temporarily allowing it.

Josh Ragan understands that if his mailbox is permanently approved, other households may try to add unusual accessories to their front yards that could drive down property values. But the sparkly, 2-foot-tall mailbox in his front yard is his daughters’ primary way of coping with their grief, he said.

The Chase Oaks HOA's management association and board declined to comment Tuesday.

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Josh and Megan Ragans' oldest daughter, 4-year-old Aviana, has Type 1 diabetes, but that hasn't hurt her impressive gymnastics skills. When she's not on a balance beam, she's learning the alphabet. And she loves Chewbacca, despite having never seen a Star Wars movie.

Irie, who is 3, hides behind her mom's legs or in her dad’s arms when visitors are over. The bashful girl may not say much, but she keeps up with her older sister’s quick pace.

The youngest Ragan daughter, Anistyn, was only 3½ months old when she died unexpectedly Dec. 9. Aviana and Irie, who wear sparkly tutus and bows, witnessed their younger sister's death.

A shadow box containing items belonging to Anistyn Ragan hangs on the living room wall of the family home in Lewisville. (Ashley Landis / Staff Photographer)

Josh said the day had gone like any other day. In the evening, he and his wife, Megan, decided to go to the store. While Megan went upstairs to feed Anistyn, Josh took the two older girls out to the family's van.

“I started getting the girls into the van and started to buckle them in, and that’s when I heard the most terrifying, blood-curdling scream I’d ever heard,” Josh said.

He ran inside and discovered that Anistyn had stopped breathing. He called 911 while Megan attempted CPR.

In the commotion, Aviana and Irie got out of the van, came indoors and stood in the doorway of Anistyn’s bedroom.

Police, ambulances and the Fire Department were at the house within minutes, Megan said. Doctors tried to resuscitate the baby girl for 30 minutes before pronouncing her dead at 6:50 p.m.

"It's something I'll never be able to forget as much as I want to," Megan said.

The Tarrant County medical examiner ruled the case a sudden unexplained infant death. According to the federal Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, about 3,700 such deaths occurred in 2015. They include deaths by sudden infant death syndrome, accidental suffocation and strangulation in bed, and other unknown causes.

Megan and Josh Ragan get emotional as they talk about their daughter Anistyn. (Ashley Landis / Staff Photographer)

The mailbox to heaven

After the tragedy, Megan and Josh tried to establish a sense of normalcy for their girls. Gymnastics practices and play dates continued, and both girls began going to therapy to learn how to live with their grief. But Aviana had a hard time moving forward.

That was when Josh conceived the “letters to heaven” mailbox. Although he had done woodworking projects before, the mailbox was different.

“I knew that it was for such a special purpose that everything had to be perfect on it,” he said. “It took me a couple tries, but eventually I got something I could live with.

“Certain moments I had to stop and take a moment because I realized what it was and what it was for — that our youngest daughter was not here.”

Aviana and Irie began writing letters to their little sister and putting them in the mailbox. Several times a week their parents would write letters back, signing them from Anistyn. The letters became a way for Anistyn to stay in the Ragans' lives, as well as a way for Aviana and Irie to cope.

1 / 4Josh Ragan watches as his daughters, Irie, 3, and Aviana, 4, write letters to their younger sister, Anistyn.(Ashley Landis / Staff Photographer) 2 / 4Irie Ragan, 3, writes a letter to her younger sister, Anistyn, who died in December.(Ashley Landis / Staff Photographer) 3 / 4Irie, 3, and Aviana Ragan, 4, place letters in a handmade mailbox in honor of their younger sister.(Ashley Landis / Staff Photographer) 4 / 4Aviana Ragan, 4, Irie Ragan, 3, and their father, Josh Ragan, check a handmade mailbox for letters.(Ashley Landis / Staff Photographer)

Josh made the mailbox in accordance with postal standards. The parents filled out an improvement request form to erect it, and even got the go-ahead from the U.S. Postal Service. Megan posted about the mailbox on Nextdoor.com to make sure neighbors were OK with the addition.

Still, the Chase Oaks Community Association initially denied the request, saying the mailbox would drive down property values significantly.

Fighting the HOA

For a while, the baby blue mailbox with a rainbow post stayed inside the house, but Aviana started to ask questions: How did the mail get inside? Why wasn’t it with the normal mailbox?

After it became harder and harder for the 4-year-old to cope, Megan put her foot down, and in early July the mailbox was moved outside, despite the HOA's denial.

A handmade mailbox in honor of Anistyn Ragan, who died suddenly in December, stands next to other mailboxes outside the Ragan family home. (Ashley Landis / Staff Photographer)

The Ragans took to the media to publicize what they saw as HOA wrongdoing. They say it was unfair that the HOA has no appeals process for the mailbox, which they say is for their daughters' well-being.

After their story got out, the Ragans received a notice from the HOA that the mailbox had been approved for six months. If they want to keep it longer, they must submit a new request.

“To us, that is them telling us we have six months to grieve,” Megan said. “And to explain that to a 4-year-old and a 3-year-old, they’re not going to comprehend that, and that’s not OK.”

Later, the Ragans said, they were told that if they did not go to the media, the HOA would set up a GoFundMe page to assist the family with medical and funeral bills.

Megan and Josh say they don’t want money, or for their silence to be bought. They want a way for their children to cope.

Aviana Ragan, 4, places a letter in a handmade mailbox in honor of her younger sister. (Ashley Landis / Staff Photographer)

“Anistyn’s death wasn’t something we, or really anyone, could be prepared for,” Josh said. “So we’ve just tried to be there for each other, and especially there for our girls, to make sure everyone is coping with our tragedy.”

The Ragans say that all they want is to see more heart from their HOA, and to keep their mailbox. They don’t want to deny their children a grieving process.

Looking to the future

There are days Aviana still cries for her sister, although the letters help. Josh is in the process of retiring from the National Guard and is excited to have more time with his family.

And while Anistyn will never be forgotten, the Ragans are preparing to welcome a new baby.

Megan is pregnant with a boy, Strayer, who is due in late October. Aviana calls her brother the “Boss Baby,” and Josh is crossing his fingers that his son will be born on Halloween.

“After a child has been lost in your family, the next child to come about is called a rainbow baby,” Megan said. Strayer “will be our rainbow baby.”

And like the mailbox that sits in front of the brick house on Witherby Lane, Strayer's arrival will be a sign of healing and hope for the Ragan family.