AN INVISIBLE THREAD

AN INVISIBLE THREAD is the true story of a busy sales executive and an eleven-year-old panhandler. It's a story of letting go of fears, of burdens, of expectations and limitations and being open to the sweet, unplanned blessings of life. It is the story of how one woman learned to live in the process of helping a boy rise above the misery of his childhood.

AN INVISIBLE THREAD is the heartwarming story of a friendship that has spanned thirty years, that brought life to an over-scheduled professional who had lost sight of family and happiness, and hope to a hungry and desperate boy whose family background in drugs, crime, and squalor seemed an inescapable fate. When Laura Schroff first met Maurice on a New York City street corner, she had no idea that she was standing on the brink of an incredible and unlikely friendship that would inevitably change both their lives. As one lunch at McDonald's with Maurice turns into two, then into a weekly occurrence that is fast growing into an inexplicable connection, Laura learns heart-wrenching details about Maurice's horrific childhood.

The boy is stuck in something like hell. He is six years old and covered in small red bites from chinches bed bugs and he is woefully skinny due to an unchecked case of ringworm. He is so hungry his stomach hurts, but then he is used to being hungry: when he was two years old the pangs got so bad he rooted through the trash and ate rat droppings. He had to have his stomach pumped. He is staying in his father's cramped, filthy apartment, sleeping with stepbrothers who wet the bed, surviving in a place that smells like something died. He has not seen his mother in three months, and he doesn't know why. His world is a world of drugs and violence and unrelenting chaos, and he has the wisdom to know, even at six, that if something does not change for him soon, he might not make it. As their friendship grows, Laura offers Maurice simple experiences he comes to treasure: learning how to set a table, trimming a Christmas tree, visiting her nieces and nephew on Long Island, and even having homemade lunches to bring to school. "If you make me lunch," he said, "will you put it in a brown paper bag?" I didn't really understand the question. "Okay, sure. But why do you want it in a brown paper bag?" "Because when I see kids come to school with their lunch in a brown paper bag, that means someone cares about them." I looked away when Maurice said that, so he wouldn't see me tear up. A simple brown paper bag, I thought. To me, it meant nothing. To him, it was everything.

Laura Schroff is a former advertising executive who has worked with several major media companies, including Time Inc. and Condé Nast. Born and raised on Long Island, Laura was part of the advertising team that made USA Today a successful national newspaper, before helping launch three of the most successful start-ups in Time Inc. history: In Style, Teen People and People StyleWatch. Laura has also been the New York Ad Manager at Ms. magazine, National Advertising Sales Director at YM magazine and Executive Director at Brides. Alex Tresniowski is a writer living and working in New York City. He has been a senior writer for People magazine since 1998, writing numerous cover stories and focusing on human interest, crime, and sports. He is also the author of six books, including 2005's The Vendetta, a true crime story that was purchased by Universal Pictures and used as a basis for the 2009 Johnny Depp movie Public Enemies.