new works

i had a thought the other day. (insert joke here) hahaha. so anyhow, my abuela tomasa, my great-great grandmother died about nine years ago. she was the thread that kept our family together. after she died, we all kinda fell apart, and out of contact. not solely because of her, but it happened.
she was about 98 when she died. almost 99. she was born in 1902, and died in 2001. she was a magnificent woman, that, sadly, i only had the opertunity to meet twice. but those two times, i never felt more accepted in el salvador. she never learned how to read and write, but she was incredibly intelligent. she sold tortillas to put a little extra in her pocket. she would keep marks of the people she sold to, and she would remember who owed her what, and who paid her. the whole town (if i can even call it that) where my father grew up had so much love and respect for her. i can go on and on about how great i think she is, but frankly thats too much to write.
so anyway the important story: we have a 16x20 color portrait of her that has been hanging in my house since she died. its framed nicely and everything. sooo about a year or so ago on a normal day, my mom was in the kitchen and she heard glass break. thinking it was the window (we have a big one in the front of our house) my mom shit her pants she was so scarred. when she looked it was the frame and glass the photo was in shattered and was completely ruined, but her photo was perfectly fine. my mom in shock, grabbed the photo and asked my abuela what was wrong, and if she wanted to be put in another place. my mom said she felt as if she were being guided to the spot where the photo is currently hanging (on the wall directly in front of the entryway). and there she's hung ever since. when my mom told my cousin this story, my cousin says 'that makes sense that she would want to be elsewhere. she was always watching the door of the house in el salvador. she always wanted to know who was coming and going. thats just like her.'
that got me thinking. ever since she died, i've been a firm believer that the dead don't just disappear; that they watch over the ones they love and keep them safe (or try too at least). maybe not always, but when it matters the most, they make their presence known.
another (shorter) example: my cousin (another one) is in the army, and is in the middle of completing, what i believe, is his thrid tour of iraq. he almost died twice, that i know of. once he got really really sick. and another time the tank he was in hit a hidden mine or something. he was unconcious and in the hospital for a while. afterwards, he says he remeber that when the tank was hit, he was concious of it, and he says he saw our abuela and spoke to her. that she told him that she was fine and that he needed to be strong for her, and his family (his mother, my aunt, had just given birth to 5 1/2 month premature twins), that it wasn't yet his time, and the last thing he remembers her saying was that he needed to wake up.
this woman clearly has a mission in life (afterlife?) to see to it that we're as safe as can be. and thats cool with me.
so on to my grand idea! (after much digression) so i want to go to el salvador and take photos of my abuelas living area and the cooking area i remember her always being in. i dont know if i will do this. but i hope i can. i want to. i really do. and i think my parents will love the idea. i want to shoot color, black and white, and some digital. preffffferably with a hasselblad or something. i dont have a problem doing with my 35mm, but damnit the hasselblad is soooo deliciousss. i can call it...momento mori. god damn i'm goooood. hahaha.