So this is what it was like: the present moment.
-- Janie Zimmerman (chapter 1)

Importance: Staying present has always been difficult for Janie. She constantly feels herself being pulled into the past, as almost everything seems to remind her of her mother. Likewise, at the time of this quote, focusing on the present is not the most enticing option for Janie, because her present is so unpleasant. Forty, single and overworked, Janie arrives home late and collapses in her apartment, falling asleep before she can understand how her life turned out this way. Many other characters in the novel struggle with staying present, as Denise Crawford constantly lives locked in the day her son disappeared. Likewise, Dr. Anderson feels his memories slipping away, leaving him forced to experience the present moment. Moments of healing in The Forgetting Time come from moments when the characters are able to fully experience the present moment.

For in that...
-- Dr. Anderson (chapter 2)