New Haven Register (Sunday) (New Haven, CT)
The bond between Miller, son still strong
Dec. 25 is a time of gift-giving for Curt Miller. Not only is it Christmas, of course, it is also the day both of his adopted sons — Brian and Shawn Seymour — were born.
Typically, it’s spent in Bloomington, Ind. The holiday is filled with laughter and love, but also heartache — an unmistakable emptiness that engulfs the father of two.
Brian’s twin, Shawn, 25, has been behind bars for nearly six years on a conviction for armed robbery.
“It’s bittersweet because we have always seen Shawn on Christmas and his birthday in recent years in the prison, but not having us together celebrating, it’s certainly a bittersweet day,” Miller said.
Shawn Seymour calls home nearly every day for up to 30 minutes. He likes to fill his family in on the books he’s reading or what TV programs he’s watched. But sometimes the conversations turn serious. Discussions on accountability, responsibility and second chances.
“It fills my heart listening to them talk together,” Miller said of his sons. “You can imagine, with twins, while they have some differences, there’s still that twin love and twin respect.
“Sometimes it’s Groundhog’s Day and you have to share your day with him because his day looks very similar day after day after day. But we’re incredibly close. … I really look forward to it, and I know it’s a very important part of his day.”
In that sense, Miller, 51, is more than a WNBA head coach and general manager (a role he fills quite well with the Connecticut Sun). He’s a father, mentor and role model, an inspirer of change and a fierce advocate for the LGBTQ community. They’ve grown even closer through Seymour’s incarceration.
However, the past few months have been especially difficult on their relationship due to CO
VID-19 and its ravaging effects on America’s prison system.
THE PAST IS THE PAST
Sometimes, Miller wonders, what if? What if Shawn Seymour, who fell victim to the nation’s opioid crisis as a teenager, hadn’t gotten in trouble with the law?
In 2014, Shawn Seymour, then 19, was arrested following a series of armed robberies in Indiana. Reports say that when confronted by officers, he ignored orders to drop his weapon and pointed a gun at them. Shots were fired, one grazing Shawn Seymour’s head.
“He got in trouble with the law before maybe it was a gateway to even more serious street drugs,” Miller said. “I look at it as a really tough consequence, but I almost look at it as a blessing that I truly believe that his prescription drug
use was going to be a gateway to even more serious street drugs.
“Maybe he wouldn’t be with us at all. I almost look at it as a blessing that this happened to him early.”
Shawn Seymour spent two years in an extensive drug rehabilitation program. Ultimately, his sentence — which Miller chose not to discuss in detail — could get modified.
“Eventually, he will get his second chance,” Miller said. “He obviously looks forward to that, and so do I. The challenge will always be to fight the disease of addiction.”
CLOSE QUARTERS
Prisons, where social distancing is next to impossible, became hotspots for the coronavirus. Inmates everywhere have been rendered vulnerable.
Among those affected was the Indiana correctional facility where Shawn Seymour is incarcerated. Earlier this spring, an inmate a few cells down from Seymour died from what
was thought to be complications from the virus, according to Miller. A 14day quarantine period was mandated. In-person visits were halted.
“It’s impossible to social distance in there,” Miller said. “They have a cell mate. It’s really hard to create that social distancing.”
Understandably, Miller’s anxiety as a parent has been heightened. He’s still hunkered down in Indiana with Brian, a recent college graduate, waiting, hoping for a return to normalcy.
“How fast and rapid it spreads, every time I hear of military issues because of the close quarters they’re in, my mind immediately races back to the criminal justice system and all the prisons and inmates out there,” Miller said. “The confinement is very, very similar.
“It’s a tough time to have someone incarcerated.”