She tried to look anywhere else and immediately saw her dad’s aluminum medical cane lying on the wall-to-wall carpet in front of the TV. It was the only thing out of place in the entire room. It should have been with him in the car.
-- Narrator (Chapter 3)

Importance: Louise is trying to ignore all of her mother’s dolls in the room when she notices her father’s cane on the floor of the living room. She thinks something was amiss because the cane should have been with him. He needed it to help him walk after he broke his ankle.

But Squirrel Mary’s dry skull had been crushed and the Squirrel Joseph had a gash in its side revealing its hollow leather interior, a few specks of greasy sawdust clinging to its fur.
-- Narrator (Chapter 11)

Importance: When Louise looks at the Squirrel Nativity in the trash, she sees that it is still where...