Patsy Anne Battee

    Today is a day I struggle with like most days. My mother vanished from me and my family 36 years ago. On the night of my 8th-grade graduation, my father and I had just returned from my celebratory dinner, when the phone rang. It was my mother calling me with happy tears, congratulating me on my special night. She hated that she couldn’t be there but wanted me to visit her in Mississippi that summer and we began to discuss summer plans. She even had an amicable conversation with my father and told him she would call him when she was ready to go half on my train ticket with him. This was June 4th, 1986. Little did we know that would be the last time we’d ever hear her voice again. 36 years later, her disappearance hasn’t been solved yet. She is a cold case. I am a 17-year survivor of DV, and sexual assault—the thought of my mother’s disappearance along with the circumstances that surround it scares me. She was dealing with a man who was a well-known drug dealer, though she didn’t find out about him until it was too late. In Mississippi, drug, and sex trafficking go hand in hand, yet we STILL don’t know what, or how she vanished. There has been many a day where I felt the guilt of my being present while she was missing. I am baffled by law enforcement‘s response to the many inquiries that were made by my family, yet nothing was done. To them, she was a Jane Doe.  I realize now, that my story of survival and her story of abuse go hand in hand. DV can be very dark. But, the greater the grief, the greater the joy, because I am here to ensure that her spirit lives. I was taught to lie and keep what happened to her a secret. It made my rage worse, while her voice and story were being suppressed. It was as if I was committing a second murder. When I realized this, I made the decision to break OUR silence. I made the decision to survive, and part of doing that is keeping her memory, her spirit, and her voice alive within me. I share this with all of you to ensure that you are not alone, and as the Board Treasurer of BTSADV, this is why Our Legacy Families mean so much to us, as I am a part of you.   --