Even if it meant she wouldn't be able to see or interact with her children for all that time. The pain she feels is evident when she says: "I finally heard the joyful laughter of the children, and soon two sweet little faces were looking at me, as if they knew I was there and were aware of the joy that it gave them. . How I wanted to tell them that I was there” (97). She tolerated being locked in a dark, closed space for 7 long years in order to free her children from the current master who owned them as slaves, showing how having someone to put first makes you stronger and more resilient as a slave.