Responsible youth gets to act his age

Like so many 12-year-old boys, Chrystyan Fisher lives and breathes basketball. When talking about his love of the Lakers, his hatred of the Pistons or his own skills as a point guard who can score, his face lights up and he looks you right in the eye.

It was his dad, who had to leave the family in California for a job coaching a high school team in Arizona, who got him into hoops. “I could beat him,” says the not-yet-5-foot-tall Chrystyan, smiling. “I don’t want to embarrass him.”

But when the conversation moves to his dad’s absence or where his family lives, his eyes dart away and the bravado falters.

His Long Beach neighborhood is violent, he says, and is known for gang activity. “A lot of things happen. People fight and all that -- even kids.”

Chrystyan downplays his role as de facto man of the house, casting himself as just another slacker kid. As the oldest of five children, however, he has taken on many adult responsibilities in the family’s cramped two-bedroom apartment.

His mother, Lois Tolden, who works late hours as an operator for Verizon, says that Chrystyan “would come in and change [the baby’s] diapers, make him bottles, feed him breakfast so he wouldn’t wake me up. He helps bathe the younger kids, helps dress them in the morning.”

The handsome young man in dark blue basketball clothes gets up and wanders around the room when the adults start talking about him.

“He’s the nicest older brother I’ve ever seen,” says Kris Hale, site director of the YMCA Afterschool Program at Barton Elementary School.

Since his dad moved away two years ago, Chrystyan has been struggling with depression. He became defiant, having extreme temper outbursts. These would often be followed by deep lows. Tolden says, “When he does what he needs to do [in school], he does very well. He’s very intelligent. But because of the emotional circumstances.... He has his ups and downs.”

In July, Chrystyan will go to Camp Oaks in the San Bernardino Mountains courtesy of the Los Angeles Times Summer Camp fund.

Tolden sees camp as a valuable opportunity for her son to get away from his responsibilities for a while.

“It’s a chance for him to be with his peers and not have to stress about another sibling,” she says. “Just time for him to relax and be a kid.”

At Camp Oaks, Chrystyan can look forward to a carnival, a big dance, nightly campfires and training in archery, riflery, horseback riding, biking and mountain skills.

“I want to go down Heart Attack Hill,” says Chrystyan, his eyes lighting up again.

“Yeah, down Heart Attack Hill,” Hale says with a laugh.

About 11,000 children will go to camp this summer thanks to the $1.6 million raised last year.

The annual fundraising campaign is part of the Los Angeles Times Family Fund, a fund of the McCormick Tribune Foundation, which this year will match the first $1.1 million in contributions at 50 cents on the dollar.

Donations are tax-deductible. For more information, call (213) 237-5771. To make credit card donations, visit www.latimes.com/summercamp.

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