
Dressed in her Sunday best — pink ruffled sleeves and a rainbow tulle tutu — Crystal Martinez’s 4-year-old daughter proudly presented her with a multicolored bouquet of carefully crafted tissue paper flowers. With her 5-year-old son nestled on her lap, laughing in delight, Martinez held out her arms and pulled the girl into a hug so tight that her glasses were knocked askew.
“I want you! I don’t want the flowers,” Martinez said, smiling and holding her children close.