You may have seen giant billboards blacked out with only a white letter “V” in the middle while driving around Augusta.
The woman behind the ‘V’ billboards is Augusta Realtor Venus Morris Griffin and she’s going viral on Instagram sharing her inspiring story of survival.
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 him and found herself living out a nightmare.
She begins her first post saying, “You’d think I hate him, but I can’t. Because I loved him. Everyone did. I can’t tell you how many people pulled me aside, and said: ‘You are married to the greatest man.”
The same post ends with Tripp in prison and Venus just beginning to tell her story of what was to come.
Through the series of posts, Venus describes her life with Tripp and then discovering he was living a double life and would later be found guilty on many charges including child molestation.
John (Tripp) Morris III is currently serving 45 years in prison for two charges of aggravated child molestation.
“Humans of New York” began posting Griffin’s story Thursday, March 3rd in the morning. By the evening, the first post on Facebook alone had 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 is inspiring women all over the world.
Venus thanks “Humans of New York” creator Bandon Stanton in the comment thread of her 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 Venus Morris Grififn’s story, visit “Humans of New York” on Instagram or Facebook.
“Humans Of New York” has over 11 million followers on instagram. The account showcases people from all walks of life and their stories of love, loss, perseverance and survival.
