My mother and I had often been estranged. We’d battled and exiled each other. And then, after my father’s death, we’d settled into a relationship based on irregular phone calls and occasional visits. My mother and I loved each other—mostly or partly loved each other, I think—but I’d always felt the need to armor myself against her emotional excesses, and I imagine she felt the same about me.
-- Sherman Alexie Jr. (chapter 2 paragraph 2)

Importance: This quotation introduces a main theme that runs throughout the memoir: Alexie's challenge to overcome the burden of his mother's recent death. Lillian had been a complex person, and a woman that Alexie both revered and had disdain for, Ultimately, throughout his memoir, Alexie seeks peace and reconciliation in hopes of being able to move beyond the shame, guilt and pain he continues to harbor.

Great pain is repetitive. Grief is repetitive.”
-- Sherman Alexie Jr. (chapter 125 paragraph 1)

Importance: Repetition plays a critical...