You may have seen giant billboards blacking out with just a white letter "V" in the middle while driving around Augusta. The woman behind the 'V' billboard is Augusta realtor Venus Morris Griffin and she's going viral on Instagram sharing her inspiring story of existence.
Venus is sharing her story through a series of 13 posts featured on the Humans of New York Instagram page.
She shares the story of how she fell in love with Tripp Morris, married him, had a family with her and found herself living in a nightmare. She begins her first post by saying, "You might think I hate him, but I can't. Because I loved him. Everyone did. I can't tell you how many people gave me one. pulled over, and said: 'You're married to the greatest man. The same post ends with Tripp in prison and Venus starting to tell her story of what's to come.
Through a series of posts, Venus describes her life with Tripp and then learns that he was leading a double life and would later be found guilty of several charges, including child abuse.
John (Trip) Morris III is currently serving a 45-year sentence in prison for two charges of serious child abuse.
"Humans of New York" began posting Griffin's story this morning on Thursday, March 3. As of evening, the first post on Facebook alone had garnered over 88,000 likes, 10,000 comments and 4,000 shares.
Thirteen posts, thousands of comments, thousands of shares and thousands of likes later, Griffin's story continues to inspire women all over the world.
Venus thanked "Humans of New York" creator Bandon Stanton in the comment thread of his 13th and final post.
she says,
“Thank you, Brandon, for allowing me to share my story. You are amazing and you are changing the world one story at a time. ❤️
Today has been a roller coaster of emotions for me, and the amount of support I’ve received throughout the day has been unbelievable to say the least! But, I tell my story for one reason, and it’s to help others, especially women. I want other women in this world to look at me and say, “if she can do it, I can too!” I want them to know that no matter what happens to them, they can get through ANYTHING….as long as they are willing to work hard, believe in themselves, and find forgiveness for others who have hurt them.
I want women to know their value and to learn it in a lot less time than I did…I also want them to know that staying in a bad marriage in order to give your children two parents can do more damage than good.
I want to thank everyone who went on this journey with me today. Your words of encouragement meant the world to me.”
To read the story of Venus Morris Griffon, visit "Humans of New York" on Instagram or Facebook.