In the Landmark Self-Expression and Leadership program, John took on an enormous project,  the results of which continue to impact the world today. John knew a doctor that was raising money in the United States for corneal eye transplants. Each year, there were about a million such transplants, about 5% of which were not successful. His doctor friend was raising money for research to decrease the number of failed operations. John saw a much bigger possibility to make a difference in the 10 million corneally blind people outside of this country who were getting little to no medical care at all. 

Grande committed to raising $50,000 to found an eye bank in Bangladesh, which he did within the three months of the program, and the country soon had its first eye bank.

Grande was just getting started. He knew he would have to travel all over the world and he declared his panic attacks to be a thing of the past. He hasn’t had one since. He committed to raising $150,000 to found a larger eye bank in Bombay, India, which he also did within the year. Soon he was involved with the Eye Bank Association of India, which today has over 180 eye banks across the country.

 Over the last three years, John has become chair of the Frederick M. Griffith Foundation, which was formed by Tissue Banks International to facilitate its overseas transplant programs. His wife Traudy has been chair of Operation Eye Rescue, another TBI company that specializes in making corneal transplants available in the developing world. Countless eye banks across the world have come into being and given new hope to the sightless thanks to the work of John and Traudy Grande.

Meanwhile, as they devoted themselves to making this huge difference in the world, they have succeeded in their business beyond anything they thought was possible. They and John Grande Jr. are financial planners managing hundreds of millions of dollars (http://www.raymondjames.com/Grande/). John lectures for John Hopkins Medical University all across the United States. The three partners are co-authors of Money Matters, a financial column that appears regularly in Opthamalogy Times and Dermatology Times. John and Traudy were the first financial planners to receive the Financial Planning Association of New Jersey’s Humanitarian Award in 2004 for all their work in reducing blindness around the world. The three of them have run the American Psychiatric Association’s Member Retirement Program for more than 20 years. The Grandes travel the country lecturing on retirement cash flow planning.

I do not recognize myself. Three years ago, prior to hearing about Landmark Education, I arrived at a place where nothing in my life was working. I was angry and morose, drinking at least two glasses of wine daily, seriously overweight, medicated for high blood pressure and chronic depression and in a loveless and sexless marriage.

Obviously doing no good to my family by remaining in the house, I moved out in October of 2003 with the plan of allowing things to continue to degenerate and becoming a full blown alcoholic. I was a terrible husband, inept father and mediocre professional. I didn’t like myself or anybody else very much either.

It was at this point I heard about Landmark Education. Despite the obvious potential possibilities it purportedly could provide, I resisted for another year, taking no action and continuing down my unhappy slippery slope. In retrospect, I look back at that year as I were a thirsty man crawling through the desert refusing every glass of cool water I was offered. “No, really, I’m fine.” No, not really!

Finally, in February of 2004, with nothing to lose but three days and the Forum tuition money, I began my Landmark Forum. What gove me there was nothing more or less than my graduate friend being a stand for me, and my trust in her that she would not steer me into anything that would hard me. I had a breakthrough (one of many) during those three days and one night that altered life for me. I got to see that what I had been doing, the actions of my life to that point, the blame I was pushing onto other people in my life (especially my ex-wife) was like me drinking poison every day, hoping she would die. That does not work and in the moment that I saw that I got my life back.

Today, I am peaceful, 20 pounds lighter, off the medication for depression and am happy in a relationship that I create on an ongoing basis with a terrific lady. I also participate in Landmark’s Assisting program, thereby providing the opportunity for others to get their lives back as well.