Diane chose the book and hosted the meeting.
Diane had her home ready to convey special moments from the book, from McDonald’s displays to a brown paper lunch bag, and a note on the dining room table to remind us of its importance to Maurice. She served us a wonderful pasta soup, barbeque, and had chocolate chip cookies and milk for dessert. Sitting by the crackling fire was an added treat!
To start our meeting, Diane played that night’s WGAL news on the homeless in Pennsylvania. Lancaster County is third in the state for their homeless population. Pat D. shared that she learned in a Sociology class how the homeless move from Philly to Lancaster to Pittsburg, and really like Lancaster for their generosity. So, the homeless population in Lancaster County could include a number of transient homeless who travel from other places to take advantage of the services available.
Diane talked about the authors, Laura and Alex. This was Laura’s first book, and she felt she needed an experienced author to lead her through the process. She first started thinking about writing a book after an article appeared in Good Housekeeping in 1997 about her and Maurice. A portion of the paperback book sale proceeds go to No Kid Hungry. It was difficult for Laura to revisit her painful childhood while writing this book, but the best part was the process of writing. She shared that she is the least likely person to ever publish a book, so it’s important to dream big dreams! (More info shared by Diane available at http://www.aninvisiblethread.com/author-bios)
In comparing the family life of Maurice and Laura, we agreed that they were both dysfunctional. We discussed the differences between urban poor and rural poor. Frank, Laura’s brother, was so badly mistreated which greatly affected us. We also talked about the way Laura’s mother turned a blind eye, and how Maurice’s grandmother truly loved him in spite of her flaws. Maurice now has seven children and also cares for his niece and nephew. While he made some mistakes, he also made some better choices to be able to rise above the family situation in which he grew up.
We discussed why Maurice threw away Laura’s business card. We felt that trust was an issue, and wondered about safety issues too. Laura let Maurice into her home, and seemed to have no qualms about it. The daily lunch packed in a brown paper bag signified a constant for Maurice – proof that someone cared about him. It brought tears to our eyes to a number of us when we read that part.
The role of love and affection was also discussed. Maurice and Laura needed each other. Each provided the other with something they needed.
We wondered about Laura needing permission from Maurice’s mother to take him to the Mets game. It was really risky for her to go to his home. We shared personal experiences of wandering into “bad” neighborhoods. That led us to discuss privilege, especially about where Laura lived and where we live. We don’t have to notice panhandlers, don’t have to see the poor and homeless. They are invisible to us.
So, did anyone like Michael? Nope. We discussed why in the world Laura stayed with him. Laura’s mom was a role model of standing by your man no matter what. We all thought it was terrible when Laura chose Michael over Maurice. We had a harder time with Michael not accepting Maurice than not being willing to have children with Laura. Red flags all over the place!
The book was rated highly with these comments: felt worse for Frank than Maurice, because Frank never had a good life; a lot of crying reading the book; it’s hard to rate a person’s life; range of emotions: cry, happy, sickening; loved it; loved that it was a true story, and the way that one person can impact someone; inspirational and uplifting; inspired to go and do something good - be the good you wish to see!
Book's website: http://www.aninvisiblethread.com/
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