Our son, brother, father, and uncle, Austin Milan Morrissey 3rd lost his decades long battle with addiction on December 29, 2024. He faced the last moments with his children Coral and Colin bravely by his side.

Austin grew up in Madison, CT and Walpole MA, spending all of his time outdoors and on the water. In Massachusetts he lived with his oldest sister Renee, where he developed his incredible gift for carpentry

Austin was an avid boater and fisherman and gave the gift of both to his nephews Maxwell, Mikey, and Austin. He was loud, adventurous (and sometimes stupid), bold, hilarious, opinionated, passionate, and often inappropriately sarcastic.

The truth is, his demons were deeply rooted and although his father Auty and (step)mother JoAnn never ever gave up on him, in the end Austin didn't have the wherewithal to lean into love and trust the process of sobriety.

The truth is his addiction divided us into too many camps where some of us did nothing, and some of us did too much, and some of us were very hard on him, but all of us are left now pointing fingers at each other saying, <enabler> and <cold> and <at fault> when what we really should be saying is <I’m sorry,> and <thank you,> and <I love you.>

The truth is that the human becomes the addiction and as the years pass they become less and less of who you thought you knew, until all that is left is someone you sort of recognize but when you try to answer, <tell me a good memory about him,> no matter how hard you try you cannot come up with much after the age of 14 or so.

The truth is that the first news of their passing brings immense and bottomless grief followed by guilt in the secret sweet relief for the addict and those you watched him destroy.

The truth is we are devastated and dazed by Austin's journey but the resonating pain of losing him reminds us of the fragility of life and that each one of us is human and although we may not be able to save someone else, we can always love them and however we chose to do so is exactly okay. .

He is survived by his dedicated and loving parents Auty Morrissey and JoAnn Close; his children Coral and Colin Seastrand; his sisters Renee Marsden and Eve Morrissey; his very good friend Kim (a major player in the team to save him); nephews Michael and Austin Terreri, Maxwell Hand and Shea Quashie; nieces Elisa and Angie Hand and AbbyRuth Terreri; ex-wife Kristin Seastrand; and, his mother Jean Caron and her husband Rik

In honor of Austin's life - reach out to someone you haven't spoken to in a long time and tell them something good about themselves. Always try to remember, the journey is arduous but suddenly too short, another’s addiction is neither your fault or something to be embarrassed by. Be strong, love one another unconditionally - and never give up hope

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