Jeanne describes an incident that took place in a firebreak the night her oldest sister has a baby. (A firebreak is a strip of cleared land used to stop the spread of a fire.) How does Jeanne remember that night? What does she believe it foreshadows? Why

One day, catching a brief flash of the future, when she will be totally separated from her parents. Jeanne and her Papa are in the firebreak together, pacing in concern for her oldest sister, Eleanor. Eleanor is in the hospital in the midst of a difficult delivery of her first child. The family is particularly concerned, as two other sisters have delivered there, both hemorrhaging badly, and one sister-in-law bled to death after a miscarriage.

They see Mama running across the sand toward them. Papa is frozen, filled with terror, and it seems forever until Mama reaches them. She arrives across the firebreak shouting, "Ko, Ko, it's a boy!" (p. 107) Eleanor, too, is okay. The two parents stand together in tears, leaving Jeanne alone, watching them together. In their intimacy, their joy, they are totally unaware of Jeanne.

The emotional distance between Jeanne and her Papa continues to grow during their years in Manzanar. She feels lonely and alone. The experience in the firebreak, after the birth of her sister's baby, allows Jeanne to witness an intimate moment, rarely seen, between her parents. In their intimacy, Jeanne becomes invisible.