By admin 
When Venus Morris Griffin told the story of her tumultuous first marriage in 2022, it was the second most read series ever on the Humans of New York Facebook page.
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Millions read it, 40,000 commented.
Now, she’s back with a book to tell parts she left out.
She didn’t say she endured abuse from her husband, John Evangel “Tripp” Morris III, a well-known fraternity president and cheerleader at the University of South Carolina in the 1980s, from the beginning or why she stayed for 20 years.
She didn’t tell about her peripatetic childhood in Kershaw with an addicted mother and abusive stepfather.
“The Other Side of Perfect” tells all that plus what happened after her husband was convicted of abusing one of their children. He is serving a 45-year prison sentence at Baldwin State Prison in Milledgeville, Georgia, after being convicted of two counts of child molestation.
She said in an interview she hoped by telling the whole story, she can help others find the strength to get out of abusive relationships.
“I stayed too long,” she said. “I confused staying with faithfulness.”
She stayed because of trauma endured as a child, she did not know what peace or safety felt like. She thought she had found something better and worked tirelessly to give her children the kind of upbringing she did not have.
Better and safe are not the same thing, she said.
Griffin writes about how charming and fun her husband could be — the person most people saw — but then he would in turn threaten her, shove her, hit her and then run off saying he was going to kill himself.
There were so many lies, including that he played football at USC, where he said the coach told other players he wished they could all be like Tripp. He even took his family into the locker room and pointed out a locker he said was his.
He wasn’t in the team photo because he was sick that day and had to stop playing because was injured.
She writes about getting a phone call from a prostitute who said Tripp Morris was a regular customer who she had fallen in love with. Before that, Griffin had looked the other way when she suspected he was unfaithful.
She looked the other way when it became apparent they were drowning in debt because she believed he would take care of it.
But then came the day when she and one of her daughters, then elementary school age, were in the kitchen. Her daddy had done something to her.
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There was no looking the other way after that.
She writes with great emotion how the court system felt and how hard it was for her daughter to testify and for her to have to watch it.
The day after his conviction, she was scheduled to read during the service in their Catholic Church. She did it, despite feeling people wanted her to hide in shame. And she took her children to mass every day for a year.
She worked 70 hours a week selling real estate in Augusta, Georgia, soon becoming a million-dollar a year top producer who put up billboards to advertise her business.
She started by practically begging people who were selling their homes themselves to let her handle the sale.
Over 10 years she sold almost $500 million in real estate.
And she raised her children. Her oldest was 16 when his father went to prison. He stepped up and helped the younger kids with homework and how to navigate their lives in a small community that not only knows all their business but often has an opinion.
He is a dentist now. The others are all successful as well, Griffin said — a physical therapist, a mother of twins, a health care executive. One is applying for nursing school and one is still in high school, where he did actually play football and was actually an MVP.
They all live nearby.
Her second marriage ended after seven years and they had one child together. She recently remarried, taking the whole family to Italy for the wedding.
Her divorce from Tripp Morris was final in 2011, court records show.
Morris began serving a prison sentence in 2012 and will be eligible to apply for parole in 2037, according to the Georgia Department of Corrections.
She writes to him every Christmas and tells him about the children and includes photos.
He responded once, “You’re the only one who does this.”
Griffin said, “At my darkest moment laying in my bed, I made a pact with God that I would spend the rest of my life lifting people up.”
That’s why she started a foundation to give $10,000 scholarships to children who have a parent in prison. Her children make the selection and present the award.
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And that’s why all the proceeds from the book will go to charity.
“I had a part in this,” she said. “I caused tremendous damage to my children.”
In the end, she says, the book is about redemption.
“It’s for when you don’t know if you can get out of bed,” she said.