The Best Manner Possible Under All Existing Conditions: The Christopher Lehman Legacy

According to the experts, Christopher Lehman was not supposed to have much time.

Plagued with juvenile rheumatoid arthritis from the age of one, his world quickly began placing limits on what his life could be. Doctors offered grim predictions. His body presented challenges most people could scarcely imagine. Over the years, he would lose his mobility, much of his independence, and eventually his sight. He lived with pain as a constant companion.

But Christopher refused to be reduced to a diagnosis.

He was a son, a brother, a friend, a student, a sports fan, a self-proclaimed comedian, a romantic, a thinker, and a writer. He loved deeply, laughed often, learned with enthusiasm, and possessed an unforgettable ability to find humor in circumstances that weren't always funny. With the unwavering love of his family and an extraordinary circle of friends, Christopher built a life far larger than the boundaries of his wheelchair.

In the pages of this book, Christopher tells that story in his own words. With honesty, wit, vulnerability, and sometimes irreverent humor, he takes us through childhood, friendship, education, heartbreak, independence, faith, adversity, and the countless people and experiences that shaped his remarkable forty-eight years.

This is not simply a story about living with a disability, it is a story about living life in the best manner possible under all existing conditions.

It’s about refusing to let the things we cannot control determine the person we become. It’s about friendship, family, courage, laughter, love, and the stubborn human desire to keep moving forward—even when the path ahead of you looks different than you imagined.

Christopher Wren Lehman spent a lifetime proving that a life does not have to be easy to be extraordinary.