Maya Angelou eloquently describes how her mother taught her through her actions that love liberates, it does not bind. When she had a child at age 17 and moved out of her mother's home, her mother advised her to always be true to herself and made it abundantly clear that she was always welcome home. By allowing her to go, and to come back whenever she needed to, her mother's love liberated her to live her own life. Her mother's recognition that she, Maya, was special and had something extraordinary to offer to the world, helped her to live her gifts. When her mother was dying Maya remembered how she had liberated her and was able to love her mother by letting her go. Her life is a powerful example of how love liberates.