Although they didn't meet until recently, Ruth Bachman knew she had at least two things in common with writer/storyteller Kevin Kling after she heard him on a radio show. Both know what it's like to live with limited use of their arms, and both have learned to "grow through whatever happens to us and embrace what is," she said.
Bachman lost the hand and part of the forearm on her dominant arm to cancer in 2003. Kling, who was born with one underdeveloped arm, lost some of the use of the other in a motorcycle accident in 2001. They will share stories at a cancer fundraiser Tuesday in Eden Prairie.
"Most of my work is humorous, but comes from a serious place," Kling said. "Humor is crucial to healing. When you can laugh at something, it doesn't control you."
He isn't the only one who can crack wise: Billing them as a "disarming duo" was Bachman's idea.
Proceeds will benefit the Hourglass Fund, which Bachman established to benefit two University of Minnesota entities, the Masonic Cancer Care and the Center for Spirituality and Healing. 7 p.m. Tuesday, St. Andrew Lutheran Church, 13600 Technology Dr., Eden Prairie. Suggested donation, $25. Preregistration link at www.ruthbachman.com.
