DALLAS -- Ellery Wallace was once a high school football player from West Texas who dreamed of becoming a soldier.
“He knew how to make decisions well," said Janelle Wallace, Ellery's widow. "Even marital advice, he was one that [soldiers] always went to for advice about anything.”
Janelle and Ellery were high school sweethearts. “We wrote and talked for several years and then finally got married,” Janelle said.
Eight years ago – at 33 years old, Wallace died living that dream in Afghanistan. “It was a permanent deployment in a sense,” Janelle said.
For Janelle, time doesn’t heal. It simply dulls what was once a sharp pain. A father she sees in their four children as they grow.
"The oldest looks just like him, and I miss him,” Janelle said.
Fifteen-year-old Liam was just seven years old when his Dad died.
“I certainly don’t have my hair shaved all the way but yes, I do look like that,” Liam said.
Wallace was a lifelong Dallas Cowboys fan. His son plays high school football and likes it because he says it gives him confidence.
“Knowing that you can do something – when you can’t do that in most sports," Liam said.
This weekend, the family will honor their father like they never thought they would. Thanks to the Taps Foundation, they’ve been invited to not only attend this weekend's NFL Draft, but also to announce the Cowboy’s second-round draft pick at AT&T Stadium.
“It’s a once in a lifetime opportunity and there aren’t a lot of people who even get a chance to do something like this," Liam said.
It's a chance to celebrate their father's love of football. For Janelle, it’s yet another chance to keep his story alive.
“It also means that you haven’t been forgotten because time goes on everyone has to move on, and it’s easy to forget – so it’s nice to remember everything that we loved about him and that he gets to be remembered," Janelle said.
Memories children will carry with them the rest of their lives.