AZLE - A month ago, Houston Taylor was loving life with his wife and little boy at a Rangers game.
But leave lasted only two weeks, and life lasted only 25 years for the Army Staff Sergeant.
Insurgents in Afghanistan killed Taylor Thursday.
"You would never have known any of the danger he faced," said Mary Cremean, Taylor's grandmother.
She thinks of her dimple-faced grandson in the black-and-white photo on the wall, not the battle hardened Staff Sergeant that survived two tours in Iraq, earning three Bronze Stars and a Purple Heart.
Now Cremean is hearing from his buddies, including a soldier he saved.
"[The soldier Taylor saved] and his wife are expecting their first baby and it's a boy, and he's going to name him after Houston," Cremean said. "His first name Houston and his middle name Taylor."
Taylor had a one year old daughter named Avery, as well.
He tattooed her name on his arm, along with the Hawaiian Islands, where she was born and her dad was based with the 25th infantry division.
"He was always about service," said Taylor's step brother Jacob Bryan. "He always wanted to serve his country."
He said Houston inspired him to go to the military. Jacob is home on emergency leave from the Air Force for the funeral.
But Taylor was starting to for a life at home.
"He had talked about maybe having another baby later on," said Taylor's step father Billy Bryan. "That's why this was going to be his last tour. He didn't want to do that anymore with his family growing up."
Houston Taylor married his high school sweetheart, Kelsey. She and Taylor's mother have gone to receive the body in Dover, Delaware.
Funeral arrangements have not been finalized.
E-mail jdouglas@wfaa.com
