Jennifer Garner’s Instagram account is arguably one of the happiest places on earth. It has hilarious DIY baking (while trying not to wake up the kids), quirky quarantine fashion, laundry with her adorable cat, and even inspirational stories shared from fans around the world. But this week, we reminded once again of the reason we love her so much.
Shayn Vitti Avila (@meregoddess) opened up to Garner in the comments section of her latest post (and, by extension, Garner’s 9.3 million followers) about leaving her husband. “I wish I had your happiness and feeling of security,” she began. “And I don’t say that resentfully because you present yourself as a good and kind person. Your actions show you to be good and kind. It’s that I have finally gotten the courage to tell@my husband [sic] to leave after years of emotional abuse and I feel@like [sic] I will never find happiness or security. I find a sense of balm from seeing yours buts it’s also mixed with a winsome feeling because I don’t think I’ll@ever be there. He is so vindictive and powerful and I have nothing and no one. Why am I saying this to a stranger? I really don’t know.”
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In a later blog post, Avila reflected on the responses she’d received from her comment – including from the actress.
“Jennifer’s post was bright and pretty and fun,” Avila wrote. “I recalled her marriage [to Ben Affleck] and its break up. Blazed across papers and the internet for all to read and misunderstand and yet here was this amazing woman. Posting cute photo of her quarantine pictures and I thought of all the wonderful things she was doing. Acting, her business, her donations, and her positive presence online. BUT most important to me was that she had survived and she was thriving.”
She added that after she left the comment, she went back to delete it but was “stunned” by the outpouring of support it received.
“I cried for a long time,” she said. “Strangers. People who don’t know me, who don’t owe me anything took the time to reach out and care for a total stranger.”
“When I saw Jennifer Garner’s note to me, I was floored,” she continued. “To take a moment and share her kindness and well wishes and message of hope — I was and continue to be GRATEFUL.”
