Dominique Odila Owens

Shortly after her birth, we all moved to Germany. Everyone was smitten by the little girl with the big, brown, knowing eyes. Dominique had, from the earliest age on, a thirst for knowledge. She would examine everything around her, listen intently to conversation, and explore her surroundings.

She started German kindergarten when she was 3 years old. She loved singing in the morning, "making" art, and the excursions in the surrounding woods. We always thought Dominique would be an actress. She would stand in the front of the hallway mirror and practice different facial expressions, crying, screaming, and yelling. Anytime one of us would walk up on her, she'd look up at us and act as if nothing were going on.

Her friends in Germany were sad to see her leave. But even then, she had to go out with a bang. She had contracted chickenpox. The kids had to wave goodbye from behind closed windows- when I think of it now, it seems a little like a theater performance. She waved goodbye and blew kisses...

Dominique spent the next 9 years in Killeen, Texas. She went to school at Cedar Valley Elementary School from Pre-K to 5th grade. She was even awarded the President's Academic Excellence Award and was very proud of herself. Her thirst for knowledge never ceased. She would look up anything and everything on the Internet and in encyclopedias and "school" us on the newly learned information. She read constantly-sometimes 3 books at one time. Her favorite authors were William Shakespeare and Robert Frost.

One of her most endearing qualities was that she tried to help whenever there was a problem. She would give advice to her friends- that they didn't want to hear at the time. She also loved to help stray animals-much to our chagrin. We had to reign in her ambitions to help others quite often. I don't know how many times I had to take her to Second Chance Animal Shelter and tell her that we could not take all the animals home. I also can't remember how many stray dogs "found" Dominique. She would walk around the neighborhood to find their owners. Most of the time, though, we had to call animal control. Needless to say, Dominique had a big heart that she wanted to share with everyone.

All summer long, she was excited to go to Union Grove Middle School- the school her brother went to. In fact, I recall her telling me the second week of Summer Break that she had enough of her vacation and wanted school to start right then and there. She was beside herself to get everything organized and ready for the first day of Middle School. She loved all her teachers at UGMS as well. She was looking forward to Solo/Ensemble in Choir- Mrs. Brown had told her that she had a wonderful voice. She had big plans!

Unfortunately, her life was cut short! She got her angel wings on Sepptember 23, 2010- shortly before her 12th birthday. And by the way, she had big plans for that one, too. I can just hope that you were one of the lucky ones that got to know her and was touched by her bright shining light! We- Willis, Odila, and Gavin as well as friends and family- will never forget our sweet little angel Dominique!