Military Spouses: The Selfless Heroes

National Military Spouse Appreciation Day is celebrated every year on the Friday before Mother’s Day. Today we feel honored to celebrate the contributions, support and sacrifices of our military spouses.

An American tradition that began in 1984, we gather every year to show appreciation for the tremendous strength and selfless sacrifices of our military spouses. These men and women play a profound role in their spouse’s commitment to serve our country in the Armed Forces. Many shoulder the burden of countless moves and stressful deployments, and yet they proudly stand beside their warrior.

Military Spouse Employee with her Army husband

We are proud to have military spouses among us and as part of our National Vision family. Angela Mann is just one of several military spouses that we have the honor of calling an NVI associate. She has been a part of our family for 18 months now, currently working as a certified optician at our military store in Fort Huachuca, Arizona.

She is also an Army wife and mother of two.

Angela met her husband when they were just 10 years old and were close friends for many years before they married. While friends, they corresponded throughout two deployments. When Angela married her husband in 2008, he had already been in the Army for six years, working in Military Intelligence Maintenance.

Angela took the time to share with us some of the experiences she has had as an Army wife. She explained the feelings surrounding a deployment saying:

“Nothing can prepare you for the experience of putting your husband on a plane and never being sure if this is the last time you will get to kiss him or tell him you love him. Nothing can compare to how deeply into your bones you can miss another human being or the ache you feel when your children say how much they miss daddy. I’ve loved him more deeply because of the absences, never taking time spent together for granted.”

Angela also explains how true the phrase – “Hurry up and wait!” – really is.

She has waited for orders, approved leave forms, vacations, movers, packers, dinner, delayed flights, Skype dates, long distance phone calls, deployments to end (and begin), birthday parties that her husband could attend, delayed bed times because daddy’s “lunch break” across the world is of course 30 minutes after the normal bed time, and the sight of her husband returning home.

Many military spouses share this commonality of “hurry up and wait,” but what is often less repeated is that for these individuals, it is worth it.

Angela describes how the Army lifestyle has made her a better optician. She has had the chance to practice opticianry in a variety of settings and has even been referred to as an “Optical Tourist.” Moving around has allowed her to adopt the best practices from each new workplace and integrate it into her selling technique, patient care strategies and ultimately, has allowed her to expand her product knowledge.

Military Spouse Employee with her husband and sons

On a personal level, Angela and her family have had the opportunity to see a variety of places and her children have been exposed to history and geography that without the Army they would have never come into contact with.

Without a doubt, Angela is nothing short of grateful for the full life she has lived as a military spouse.

We thank you, Angela, and all of our military spouses for your strength, loyalty, commitment and sacrifice. We are proud to have military spouses among us and are committed to hiring veteran spouses as part of the Joining Forces initiative.

Happy Military Spouse Appreciation Day!

Jessica Altamirano

Jessica Altamirano

Communications Specialist at National Vision
Jessica Altamirano is a proud Veteran spouse who has worked for NVI since 2014. She holds an undergraduate degree from the University of Virginia and a Masters Degree in Public Administration from George Mason University. Jessica is passionate about corporate-nonprofit partnerships, philanthropic efforts in developing countries, Veteran recruitment, and creating a culture of health and wellness in the workplace.
Jessica Altamirano