Margaret Jean chose to believe him.”
-- Narrator (Prologue )

Importance: Margaret Jean apparently does not believe John's story about his wife suffering from depression that drove her to abandon the baby. Nonetheless, she allows him to take the child because she is glad she will not have to deal with the situation.

The world's like that. What matters in one moment, it doesn't matter the next. Things that fall apart eventually come back together again.”
-- John (September 1992 )

Importance: John is talking philosophically to Lucky who is sad that she was forced to leave Steph. This statement, however, can apply to the story as a whole. Valerie abandoned her daughter at a church and is reunited with her 26 years later when Lucky visits that same church.

But she didn't finish the sentence because the things she wanted – a Discman; a brand of shirt she'd seen other kids wearing when she went to the mall – she could acquire those...
-- Narrator (March 1993 )