An Invisible Thread Binds Two Strangers

Twenty-five years ago, Laura Schroff was walking down 56th Street headed toward Broadway Avenue when she ran into a little boy on the corner begging for change.

“Excuse me lady, I’m really hungry. Do you have spare change?”

Laura said no, and continued to cross the street. But as she got to the middle of the intersection, the boy's words hit her, and she turned around and decided to go back.

She told him she didn’t really want to give him money, but she’d be willing to take him to McDonald’s if he wanted to eat. He agreed.

Laura joined him for lunch that day, and the two started talking. The 11-year-old boy’s name was Maurice Mazyck. He was from Bed-Stuy’s Marcy Houses, but his family was staying in a shelter in midtown. Maurice confided to Laura that the only time he felt he had enough to eat was during the school year when he received two meals a day. But on the weekends and in the summer, he had to fend for himself.

And so began a weekly ritual: The two agreed every Monday evening, they would meet to share a meal together.

Over the years, the two continued to meet up, but not just for food. They explored the city together. They developed a special bond. For Maurice, it was exposure to places, people and things he’d never dreamed possible for himself. For Laura, Maurice became like the son, the child she’d always yearned for.

“We came into each other’s lives at a time when we both needed something more," said Laura. “The truth is, I was looking for something more in my life, and he gave that to me. And he was looking for someone he could count on and get a meal."

Laura often asked about Maurice’s mom. She wanted to meet her and didn’t understand his unrestricted freedom. But Maurice stalled.

"He really, really loved his mother. He expressed that to me, so that was clear," said Laura. "Maurice said his mom knew about me. But he never wanted us to meet."

One day Laura decided to drop by Maurice’s home unannounced to ask for permission to take him to a baseball game. So Laura finally met Maurice’s mother. But Maurice, embarrassed about the conditions of his home, made Laura promise she would never come back.

“We trusted each other. It was never about here’s all the great things I’m doing for Maurice. I always felt that the things that I’m learning from Maurice are far greater than the things he’s learning from me. But he became like the son I never had.”

One of Laura’s fondest memories of their early times together was when the two visited Laura’s sister and her family at their home. It was the first time Maurice had ever been out of the city.

On the trip back, the two had their usual talk. Laura asked Maurice about his favorite part of the day. She was sure he would say it was playing in her nephew’s huge, grassy back yard.

But he answered, “I loved that room that had the big table where we all sat down to eat and talk together. When I grow up, that’s what I want is a big table where my family can all come together.”

Today, Maurice Mazyck is married and owns a small construction company. He and his wife have seven children and also care for a niece and a nephew. Laura Schroff, now 60, and Maurice remain very close friends. The two share the same feeling that, because of the other person, their lives have changed forever.

In 2008, Laura, decided to turn their story into a book entitled, “Invisible Thread.” And tomorrow, Tuesday, November 1, she and Maurice will appear on the Rachel Ray Show at 10:00am on WABC, channel 7 to tell their story to a national audience.

“I titled the book ‘Invisible Thread,’ because I believe in life, there is an invisible thread that connects you to those people that you are destined to meet. Sometimes, all that is needed is one person— an older sibling, a cousin, a friend, a teacher – to make a simple gesture that can change the course of your life.”

“It’s been kind of surreal,” Laura said of the book. She said what is most rewarding is seeing Mazyck’s children so excited to see their father on television and the subject of a book. “His kids are so sweet. I told Maurice, 'It’s really no longer about me or you. What’s about to happen is this incredible thing that’s going to have an incredible impact on your children, and your children’s children.'

"It’s like paying it forward again."

A chance meeting between two strangers 25 years later has left the two irrevocably intertwined. Their impact on each other’s lives can be seen in big and small ways. For Laura’s part, it’s her personal testimony that has now become a book.

For Maurice, one influence can be found in his living room, where there is no couch-- only one, very large dining room table. And that's where his entire family all comes together to eat. And bond.