[FSUZeta]

i am so glad someone else suggested visiting grandma before the whole gang gets there. it seems the point is to be able to see and spend time with grandma before she dies, not to have a family reunion and see grandma. the visit might be more meaningful for both of you if you go at an earlier date and are able to have some one on one time with her. if i were a grandmother i would rather have the family visits spread out over a period of time, rather than everyone descend on me at once, and i would be very upset if my granddaughter missed out on something because of me. you may have to stand your ground with your family, but if you point out that you would rather spend some time alone with your grandmother and the whole point of the trip is to see her before she dies, then they really do not have
a valid argument. good luck to you.

you should go ahead and register for recruitment and line up those recommendations. as for obtaining recs., advice further up in this thread is excellent.