Maria Dominguez

Maria B. Dominguez died of a heart attack early Sunday morning at age 48. She thought that the only redemption for the madness of human existence was kindness. She loved her family more than anything in the world and constantly reminded those around her: “Life is too short to waste.” With life’s fragility in mind, Maria lived fearlessly. Her aim was to love whoever was around to be loved. She was courageous. She didn’t leave anything unsaid and spoke what she felt, even when it wasn’t what someone wanted to hear or what she wanted to say. She was one of the saints that you could meet anywhere, who behaved decently in a strikingly indecent society, without expectation of rewards or punishments in the afterlife. Maria grew up in Sonora, Texas, where she was one of eight children. She moved to Austin and met the love of her life, Mark Dominguez. Together they built a home in Bastrop, where they raised four girls, Velma, Delilah, Victoria, and Daniella. Their passion was making sure that their daughters had more opportunities than they did. Selflessly and generously, Maria and Mark sacrificed everything for the good of their children. They led the family through tough times and maintained a sometimes frustratingly positive outlook in the face of adversity, providing shelter from a number of storms. They showed their children that home wasn’t a physical place but was a feeling of family and love that existed within a person and between people. Maria dared to dream. With a heart of gold, she saw the supernatural extra brilliant intelligent kindness in every human soul. She treated people as if every atom belonging to her belonged to them as well. She saw god in the faces of men and women. Her barbaric yawps sounded over the roofs of the world. She knew that however she was thumped or punched about that everyone was in one way or another served the same way—either physically or metaphysically. The universal thump would be passed round and all hands should rub each other’s shoulder blades and be content despite this. This exemplified Maria’s compassion. She had an eye for beauty. A few years ago, she wrote about seeing a beautiful magnolia tree in full bloom three blocks from Bastrop High School. She described the splendor of its white flowers and ended by offering: “In the same way as I have often done in my life, I urge you to focus on the beautiful and positive things in your life. This will take you very far down the road of life, making the road seem short, not ever long.” Maria took time to acknowledge when she was happy. She was an angel flying too close to the ground. And she urged everyone to live without fear. She showed every person that she met that earth was the right place for love, that she didn’t know where it was likely to go better. And she was right. Survivors include husband of 24 years, Mark Dominguez of Bastrop; daughters, Velma, Delilah, Victoria, and Daniella; grandchild, Mark Antonio (Pretty Pretty); parents Catalina and David Buitron; and siblings, Irene, José Angel, Linda, Olga, Antonía, David, and Jorgelina. Celebration of Life services are scheduled for Friday, January 28, 2011 at the Bastrop Providence Funeral Home Chapel.