An Invisible Thread: The True Story of an 11-Year-Old Panhandler, a Busy Sales Executive, and an Unlikely Meeting with Destiny

When Schroff first meets him, Maurice is 11 years old. By the end of the memoir, he is a grown man. In the space between, Maurice loses both his parents and his grandmother. He also watches as most of the people he knows spend time in jail for dealing drugs or die from their addictions. He is quiet but determined as a child, enterprising enough to figure out where to sleep when he is forced to be on his own and how to find food. He wants to make choices that are different than those made by too many in his life. With Schroff’s help, he is able to carve out a satisfying future for himself, which includes a stable family and career. Elements of Maurice’s tumultuous childhood parallels Schroff’s own experiences, as she had an abusive, alcoholic father. Schroff identifies with Maurice and draws a connection between her father and Maurice’s drug addicted mother.

Maurice’s mother spends most of the book living as an addict. She is first addicted to heroin, shooting up often enough at home that it is a regular scene for young Maurice to witness. She shoots up in public as well with her kids gathered around her to create a shield. She gets clean for a time but then tries crack cocaine and get addicted to it. In order to feed her addiction, she turns to theft and prostitution. She works as a part time police informant and has both of her legs broken as a result. At the end of her life she is sober, yet AIDS has compromised her health. Schroff refrains from casting judgment on Darcella and instead respects that the woman, although negligent, is Maurice’s mother. When Darcella dies, Maurice contacts Schroff after years of silence and tells her that she is now his mother. 

Maurice adores his grandmother, Rose, even if Schroff is skeptical based on the first story she hears about Rose—her giving her 6-year-old grandson a joint for his birthday. Rose does seem to look out for Maurice more than most of his family, yet she too cultivates unsafe environments for the boy. Maurice believes her to be the lone family member who isn’t addicted to drugs. He is unaware of her addiction and broken hearted when she dies from long-term drug abuse.

Meka, a pretty and outspoken teen, is Maurice’s first serious girlfriend. Schroff likes Meka, yet the young couple’s relationship concerns her. These concerns are soon realized when Maurice, at only 19, bears a son, also named Maurice. Schroff is initially jealous of Maurice’s parenthood, as her second husband has denied her the possibility of having children, yet she is supportive. Although Maurice has never asked Schroff for money, he does so when Meka expresses a desire for a $300 coat. Schroff hesitantly agrees, yet the loan appears to be a strain on their relationship, as she does not hear from Maurice for years after. Maurice and Meka prove to have a tumultuous relationship, one rife with intense arguments, and they separate. Soon after, Maurice meets Michelle. 

Whereas Maurice’s first relationship was tumultuous, he finds stability with Michelle, whom he marries. Together they have a son, Jalique. Maurice finally has a family of his own, and he is determined to provide for them. Although he is short-sighted in his plan to obtain money—which results in an episode of gunfire—Maurice eventually builds a happy life with his wife and their subsequent children. Michelle affords Maurice a real family, one which possess the big table Maurice vowed for as a child. At the end of the novel, Maurice invites Schroff to be a part of his family with Michelle and the children, and Schroff accepts.

When Schroff fills in as a parental figure at Maurice’s back-to-school night, she has the opportunity to meet one influential teacher in his life, Miss House. Unlike other teachers who have written him off, Miss House seems attuned to just how difficult life is for Maurice. She believes him to be bright but held back by anger that he can’t redress. She enlists Schroff’s help in getting him to do his homework and show up to school regularly. She also makes Schroff promise that she will not abandon Maurice but will continue to play a role in his life and to be someone he can depend on.

Schroff’s father is considered a reasonably pleasant man when he isn’t drinking. However, when he gets drunk, he terrorizes the family. Schroff grows up tiptoeing around her father, never sure which side of him will emerge if he opens a bottle. Nunzie severely abuses his wife and his son Frank. He is also verbally abusive to his daughters. After Schroff’s mother passes, she tries for a time to make peace with him. In the end, she decides not to see him before he passes away. There are no words to make things right, she feels, and her energy is better spent trying to make the future meaningful for herself and Maurice.

Marie is Schroff’s mother, who endures severe domestic abuse during her marriage to Nunzie. Although Marie tries to leave her husband, she does not have a support system and inevitably returns. Marie’s five children grew up watching Nunzie beat her, which subsequently affects them, psychologically and emotionally. When Marie’s cancer returns, she suffers through a slow death. However, during this time, her children come together to take care of her. On her deathbed, Marie assures her family they will all be okay and that she both loves and is proud of them all. Later, Schroff believes her mother is a guardian angel and attributes her fortuitous meeting with 11-year-old Maurice to her mother’s heavenly guidance. 

Schroff’s brother Frank regularly takes the brunt of their father’s drunken rage. Nunzie destroys his son’s beloved baseball glove and often heaps both physical and emotional abuse on him. Frank escapes the family by dropping out of school and joining the military. His life is cut short when he dies of a chronic undiagnosed lung problem in his 40s.

Schroff’s sister Annette welcomes Maurice into her Long Island house on multiple occasions. When Schroff feels they need to get out of the city and get some fresh air, they away to Annette’s suburb home. She welcomes them for holidays, and her children are generous with their toys. Like Schroff, she makes Maurice feel valued and included.

Schroff’s first husband, Kevin, makes her question her faith in humanity. Things do not gradually unravel in their relationship. Instead, he suddenly becomes hard to locate and speak with. At last, Kevin breaks up with Schroff over the phone. She is not sure what to make of it but assumes he was unfaithful. The dissolution of her first marriage leaves Schroff distrustful and skeptical that her future will contain a sustainable romantic relationship.