Dolphins are smart, sociable and excellent swimmers. So, it figures that the late Christopher Condon would be associated with the mammal.
While Jake Berman was in high school, he said that he had the pleasure of coaching Chris in swimming. “Christopher was known as ‘Cannonball’ around the pool because he was the most driven kid I had ever met as well as being the most vibrant and fun person I had ever been around. He had a talent for swimming, for making people smile, and for being a natural role mode to those around him. When swimming, he was fun to watch because he had the competitiveness of an Olympic swimmer who embarrassed swimmers in other lanes by leaving them in his bubbles, and that was when he was only 6 years old,” Berman said.
Handout artRobert Condon created a wooden piece of artwork to hang on the family's patio.
Everyone who knew him offers accolades regarding his personality. Artist Sherri Lenz, who painted his portrait a year ago, said, “It was an honor to paint such a beautiful boy. He will be in my heart forever.”
It’s sad to say that at the age of 12, such a promising young person lost his battle against cancer. For his parents, Alison and Robert, life will always be chronologically reversed.
They have struggled with grief, but as his mother explained, “He was treated for rhabdomyosarcoma for four and a half years, but I am glad I had the time to talk and to enjoy this wonderful boy with beautiful eyes. The time was charged with emotion, but we made every day good by deciding what we would do with each sunrise we shared.”Alison and Robert kept their other two sons, Michael and Matthew, busy with activities like school, swim competitions, baseball and science clubs. “We told them that it is OK to cry and OK to love forever and to find a purpose for life by staying involved, using their talents and strengths,” Alison Condon said.
As for herself, she said that she is lucky to have such good friends to keep her going. She knew that for the benefit of Michael and Matthew, she would have to survive grief and act as an example for them. Yet, it was her friends who would get her going and involved in endeavors so that she could focus on living. Her neighbor, Christian Reese, encouraged her to take a pottery class at DuBuisson Gallery.
When, during that first class, the teacher Michael Jolley said that they would begin by making a fish, everything seemed like fate.
Handout artIn the last summer of his life, Chris and his family traveled to Discovery Cove in Orlando, Fla., where he was thrilled to actually swim with the dolphins.
Of course, she immediately thought of her son and his love of dolphins, sunshine and swimming. The summer before he died, the family took a vacation to Discovery Cove in Orlando, Fla., where Christopher swam with dolphins for the thrill of his short lifetime. Hence, it only made sense that his mother’s first pottery sculpture would be of a dolphin; yet, it was more than just a hobby product for her. In the class she designed a dolphin with a blue swimmer added in bas-relief to the side of the gray dolphin.
The piece was so meaningful and fulfilling to the family that Robert used his skills to create a brown wooden dolphin with a similar swimmer in lighter wood on its side. This piece hangs overhead on their patio as testament to his love and beauty.
Finding ways to keep busy and wade through waves of sadness, Christopher’s parents decided to create a scholarship fund in their son’s name. It was his dream to go to medical school one day, as he wanted to be a “cool” doctor for children, a doctor who engages his patients and explains procedures to them.
The foundation was established this year to honor the memory of a child of light, intellect and discernment. During his years of treatment, he suffered only when medical personnel went through motions of treatment without making connections with him as an individual. He preferred those who talked to him, treated him with sincerity, and, as he put it, “took care of me and not just the equipment.”
For Christmas 2008, his classmates at Lake Castle North Private School wanted to raise the family’s spirits so they bagged groceries to make money and then showered the family with a sleigh full of gifts. Then in 2009, the money they earned was given to Christopher. This kindness caused him to concoct all sorts of ideas for what to purchase, many amusing or far-fetched, but in quiet, serious moments he said the money had to be saved because he was going to medical school. He was going to be the “cool” doctor who would get the job done but never forget the individual child.
Even though Christopher died the following January, his classmates have committed to continuing the annual Christmas fundraiser. A local championship swim meet also has been dedicated to his memory. In his life he knew love and generosity, which continues even now.
The initial design of dolphin and swimmer that Alison made in her survival pottery class has become the logo for the establishment of a scholarship fund to be awarded in his name to anyone pursuing a career in a pediatric medical field. The greatest criterion to measure is, of course, the “cool” factor. Others include that an applicant be an individual entering a residency working with children, someone continuing an education in the field of childhood diseases, or a person doing research in childhood cancers, particularly rhabdomyasarcoma. For information on applications to the nonprofit 501(c) (3) organization, send e-mail to cooldoctorfoundation@gmail.com. Donations also may be mailed to 1064 Peninsula Drive in Slidell, LA 70460.
The family and friends will be holding the inaugural celebration of the Christopher Condon Cool Doctor Foundation at the Condon home on June 27. Family and friends will be peacefully celebrating Christopher’s June 27 birthday, his life, and the feeling and determination that his existence will make a difference.
Handout artRobert Condon created a wooden piece of artwork to hang on the family's patio.
Everyone who knew him offers accolades regarding his personality. Artist Sherri Lenz, who painted his portrait a year ago, said, “It was an honor to paint such a beautiful boy. He will be in my heart forever.”
It’s sad to say that at the age of 12, such a promising young person lost his battle against cancer. For his parents, Alison and Robert, life will always be chronologically reversed.
They have struggled with grief, but as his mother explained, “He was treated for rhabdomyosarcoma for four and a half years, but I am glad I had the time to talk and to enjoy this wonderful boy with beautiful eyes. The time was charged with emotion, but we made every day good by deciding what we would do with each sunrise we shared.”Alison and Robert kept their other two sons, Michael and Matthew, busy with activities like school, swim competitions, baseball and science clubs. “We told them that it is OK to cry and OK to love forever and to find a purpose for life by staying involved, using their talents and strengths,” Alison Condon said.
As for herself, she said that she is lucky to have such good friends to keep her going. She knew that for the benefit of Michael and Matthew, she would have to survive grief and act as an example for them. Yet, it was her friends who would get her going and involved in endeavors so that she could focus on living. Her neighbor, Christian Reese, encouraged her to take a pottery class at DuBuisson Gallery.
When, during that first class, the teacher Michael Jolley said that they would begin by making a fish, everything seemed like fate.
Handout artIn the last summer of his life, Chris and his family traveled to Discovery Cove in Orlando, Fla., where he was thrilled to actually swim with the dolphins.
Of course, she immediately thought of her son and his love of dolphins, sunshine and swimming. The summer before he died, the family took a vacation to Discovery Cove in Orlando, Fla., where Christopher swam with dolphins for the thrill of his short lifetime. Hence, it only made sense that his mother’s first pottery sculpture would be of a dolphin; yet, it was more than just a hobby product for her. In the class she designed a dolphin with a blue swimmer added in bas-relief to the side of the gray dolphin.
The piece was so meaningful and fulfilling to the family that Robert used his skills to create a brown wooden dolphin with a similar swimmer in lighter wood on its side. This piece hangs overhead on their patio as testament to his love and beauty.
Finding ways to keep busy and wade through waves of sadness, Christopher’s parents decided to create a scholarship fund in their son’s name. It was his dream to go to medical school one day, as he wanted to be a “cool” doctor for children, a doctor who engages his patients and explains procedures to them.
The foundation was established this year to honor the memory of a child of light, intellect and discernment. During his years of treatment, he suffered only when medical personnel went through motions of treatment without making connections with him as an individual. He preferred those who talked to him, treated him with sincerity, and, as he put it, “took care of me and not just the equipment.”
For Christmas 2008, his classmates at Lake Castle North Private School wanted to raise the family’s spirits so they bagged groceries to make money and then showered the family with a sleigh full of gifts. Then in 2009, the money they earned was given to Christopher. This kindness caused him to concoct all sorts of ideas for what to purchase, many amusing or far-fetched, but in quiet, serious moments he said the money had to be saved because he was going to medical school. He was going to be the “cool” doctor who would get the job done but never forget the individual child.
Even though Christopher died the following January, his classmates have committed to continuing the annual Christmas fundraiser. A local championship swim meet also has been dedicated to his memory. In his life he knew love and generosity, which continues even now.
The initial design of dolphin and swimmer that Alison made in her survival pottery class has become the logo for the establishment of a scholarship fund to be awarded in his name to anyone pursuing a career in a pediatric medical field. The greatest criterion to measure is, of course, the “cool” factor. Others include that an applicant be an individual entering a residency working with children, someone continuing an education in the field of childhood diseases, or a person doing research in childhood cancers, particularly rhabdomyasarcoma. For information on applications to the nonprofit 501(c) (3) organization, send e-mail to cooldoctorfoundation@gmail.com. Donations also may be mailed to 1064 Peninsula Drive in Slidell, LA 70460.
The family and friends will be holding the inaugural celebration of the Christopher Condon Cool Doctor Foundation at the Condon home on June 27. Family and friends will be peacefully celebrating Christopher’s June 27 birthday, his life, and the feeling and determination that his existence will make a difference.
