If her grandmother had ever been violent, don't you think the LW would have told us that? It would certainly only help her case if if were so. If she had "very good reasons not to want to go" she would have included those in her letter instead of the crappy reasons she gave us.

And yes, it is 95% about the dad, whose mommy is dying, and 5% about this girl learning that one of the best parts of life is getting past your fears in order to help someone else.