A migrant family’s first year in Chicago: sadness, setbacks and ‘beautiful moments’

When Esperanza Mendez went into surgery in January, her two youngest children had nightmares about what could go wrong. They had spent the past few weeks in fear. Arguments between their parents filled the apartment. Empty liquor bottles covered the kitchen table. The fighting got so bad, their dad moved out. Now, their mom was being put under anesthesia — something they didn’t even know existed — to remove a large lump on the right side of her neck. If it didn’t go as planned, they worried they would be...