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Jenny Sanford: 'The Ball Is in His Court'

She's graceful, has it together, but is 'not emotionless'

By Evann Gastaldo, Newser Staff

Posted Aug 18, 2009 10:46 AM CDT

(Newser) – Jenny Sanford has become a hero to many, the wronged political wife who is neither bitter nor silent. But she is human, admitting to Vogue’s Rebecca Johnson that she Googled her husband’s mistress. Verdict? “She’s pretty.” Sanford, a conservative Christian but not of the in-your-face variety, is forgiving: “I feel sorry for the other woman. It can’t be fun for her, though I do sometimes question her judgment.”

Her husband’s affair shocked Sanford; counseling helped her understand his choices: “I have learned that these affairs are almost like an addiction to alcohol or pornography.” Nonetheless, “I am not emotionless,” she says. “The last six months have been filled with emotion.” As for a reconciliation, “it’s up to my husband to do the soul-searching to see if he wants to stay married,” she says. “The ball is in his court.”

[Images (4)]

[Quotes (4)]

Jenny Sanford, wife of South Carolina Gov. Mark Sanford, speaks about her husband's recent affair admission at the family beach house in Sullivans Island, SC, on Friday, June 26, 2009. (AP Photo/Alice Keeney)

This Dec. 1, 2005, file photo, shows Jenny Sanford standing with a "low country" or seaside-themed tree that her four sons decorated for the Christmas season at the Governor's Mansion in Columbia, SC. (AP Photo/Mary Ann Chastain,file)

This June 13, 2006, file photo shows South Carolina Gov. Mark Sanford smiling as he is joined by his wife, Jenny, after he won the Republican gubernatorial nomination, in Columbia, SC. (AP Photo/Mary Ann Chastain)

South Carolina first lady Jenny Sanford gestures as she speaks to the media as she leaves a family home Thursday, June 25, 2009, on Sullivan's Island, SC. (AP Photo/Mic Smith)

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Everybody would like an escape sometimes. I’d like somebody 5,000 miles away I could e-mail. It’s not exclusive to men, but I know that isn’t realistic. - Jenny Sanford

If you don’t forgive, you become angry and bitter. I don’t want to become that. I am not in charge of revenge. That’s not up to me. That’s for the Lord to decide, and it’s important for me to teach that to my boys. All I can do is forgive.
- Jenny Sanford

I think my husband has got some issues that he needs to work on, about happiness and what happiness means. I think when a lot of men get to this midpoint in life, they start asking questions that they probably should have asked a long time ago.
- Jenny Sanford

Midlife aging is different for men than for women. Mark is worried about what his next job is. He worries about making money, running for office again, his legacy. I know my legacy is my children. I don’t worry about that. - Jenny Sanford

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Jenny Sanford: 'The Ball Is in His Court'