El Salvador native had a long journey to U.S. voting booth

The moment was captured by Times photographer Gary Friedman in August, when Maria Reyes, an 86-year-old native of El Salvador, became a U.S. citizen. ‘Look at this,’ Friedman said at the time, dropping a copy of his picture on my desk. He had been at the ceremony working on an unrelated assignment but was struck by this scene. I could see why. The picture of Reyes holding her small U.S. flag has an Ellis Island quality to it, tinted with loss and hope. I’ve watched new citizens being sworn in, and it’s impossible not to be moved by all the people who have escaped hunger and war, united by the desire for a second chance. As election day approached, I wondered whether Reyes intended to exercise her new right to vote. Yes, her family told me by phone, she was studying the ballot and eager to go to the polls. And so Friedman and I headed down to Gardena, where Reyes lives with her family in a tan stucco house with brown trim. A campaign poster, Dan Medina for City Council, was stuck into the front lawn, and the yard was adorned with pumpkins, ghouls and goblins.