I remember being in research class early Monday morning on February 1st 2011. People were antsy as no one had heard from Patti-Ann since she dropped off her friends after a party the night before. Her house was not very far from campus but she never got there. One person said she had called her parents to ask them to open the gate for her so she could drive in. That gate stayed open and her parents waited. By mid afternoon, the mood across UWI, Mona was somber. News had come that Patti-Ann’s car had been found in a ditch. No one wanted to believe that it was true. How could it be? She was so happy, so full of life, she had so much going for her. People went to see as police and firemen pulled the car out.
I was never really close to her but I knew I couldn’t watch and I was right. When I saw the footage on Prime Time News that night and heard the scream of the onlookers as her lifeless body became evident when the car was lifted, it sent chills up my spine. All I could think of was that she’s so young… she’s my age…
Today is the first anniversary of her death and Carimac will have a candle light vigil for her tonight. I want to be there to pay my respects to her memory. The pain of losing such a promising and absolutely beautiful young woman is not something that just goes away. She will be forever missed but never forgotten. Patti-Ann touched the lives of so many people, a number of who never exchanged a word with her. She had only to smile (which she did often) and it brightened a whole room.
Dreaming my whole life through... 