An invisible thread

[...]... love his bat and his cap and, above all else, his glove I realize now, many years later, that baseball was something other than just a favorite hobby for Frank; it was his escape We all needed one—me, my sisters, Annette and Nancy, my brothers, Frank and Steve—and we found it in different ways For Frank, it was imagining he was batting clean-up for the Yankees The baseball glove was his talisman: the thing... staying at the Bryant He ran inside as the van pulled up and the men jumped out He ran up the stairs to the fifth floor, the men close behind He got to Grandma Rose’s room and banged on the door, and when she opened it, he collapsed inside just as one of the men grabbed his arm “We are BCW,” the man said “This boy’s mother has been incarcerated, and we need to take him with us.” Maurice’s grandmother pulled... Love, Maurice Acknowledgments An invisible thread connects those who are destined to meet, regardless of time, place, and circumstance The thread may stretch or tangle But it will never break.” —Ancient Chinese Proverb When Laura Schroff walked into my Manhattan office for a job interview in 1978, I was impressed by her confidence and charmed by her personality but, frankly, not overwhelmed At least... the pavement dividing the lanes, and the car jumped just for an instant My hands came off the wheel, and before I knew it the car was swerving toward the metal parkway divider I got really scared, grabbed the wheel, and turned it sharply to the right The VW spun around three times before flipping over and landing upside down on the side of the road And then there was silence, and broken glass was everywhere... supplant her Yes, I was charming and persuasive in my own nudgy way, and, sure, I was a fairly cute and certainly perky brunette But Gudrun was tall and blonde and gorgeous and quite possibly a mythical Nordic goddess I knew I’d hit the glacier ceiling at Icelandic, and if I wanted a career in sales I’d have to go somewhere else I gave myself exactly six months to find a job in sales Then I saw an ad... didn’t have anywhere near enough experience, nor did I know anything about advertising, but I called anyway and wrangled an interview The night before I was due in the offices of Travel Agent magazine, I planned to cook myself a nice dinner, shampoo and blow-dry my hair, do my nails, and get a good night’s sleep—then bounce out the door the next morning and be fifteen minutes early But plans don’t always... not any of the simple creature comforts we take for granted—a warm blanket, for instance, or a winter coat He slept on a subway grate, and the steam from the trains kept him alive One day I asked if he’d like a cup of coffee, and he answered that he would, with milk and four sugars, please And it became part of my routine to bring him a cup of coffee on the way to work I’d ask Stan how he was doing and... smile, not wide and toothy like you see with most kids It was quick to appear and just as quick to vanish But it happened, and I saw it, and it seemed to me like a beautiful, shiny new thing When we finished our ice cream I asked, “Is there anything else you want to do?” “Can we go play video games?” “Sure we can.” So we walked to an arcade on Broadway I gave Maurice a few quarters and watched him... birthday “Here you go,” she said, handing him a tiny white thing It was a joint Grandmother Rose was four foot eleven and hard as a two-by-four Born in the backwoods of North Carolina, she grew up in dire poverty and learned early on how to handle adversity She handled it by being tougher than anyone who stood in her way Rose was pretty, with bright eyes and a curling smile, and men fought for her attention... a bit, and when they stopped in the lobby to make a call, Maurice bolted “Stop that boy!” they yelled, barking instructions into walkie-talkies as they gave chase Maurice ran up the block and looked back; the men had climbed into a white van and were coming after him Maurice turned sharply and went up a block that ran against traffic so the van couldn’t follow, but the van rounded the corner and kept . Maurice Acknowledgments An invisible thread connects those who are destined to meet, regardless of time, place, and circumstance. The thread may stretch or tangle. But it will never break.” —Ancient Chinese. whose lives are harder than we can imagine. Never lose hope that you can break the cycle and change your life. And never stop dreaming, because the power of dreams can lift you. Foreword by Valerie. the magazine, an essential and challenging job at any magazine but much more so at Ms. The flipside to being new and different is having people not quite understand what you stand for, and for a