The short story of how Javier and Danielle fell in love is this: The two nerdiest and opinionated kids in each of their respective cities meet each other doing a very nerdy activity. They were so nerdy, neither of them even admitted they liked each other until a full four years later. After that leap of faith, they dated for seven and a half years and eventually, they got married.

But the real story is so much more interesting. Once upon a time, two teenagers from Texas asked their parents if they could spend their summer across the country to go to a debate camp. Little did Javier and Danielle know that this summer was about to change their lives forever.

The type of debate Javier and Danielle did was called policy debate- which is notoriously the longest, most research intensive, obnoxious form of debate. It is for these reasons the debate topic stays the same for the entire school year. For Javier and Danielle this meant attending debate camp before their senior year was very strategic, and Dartmouth Debate Institute in New Hampshire was one of the best camps in the country. The national debate topic that year was strengthening the relationship between the United States and Latin America. And unlike every other kid in their debate lab, Javier and Danielle had been thinking about this topic their entire lives.

Not only was this debate topic interesting, it was also deeply personal. Both the eldest children of Latin American families in the United States, Javier and Danielle had been pulled between two worlds as long as they could remember. Coming from a mix of two cultures meant neither of them was exactly like their parents- which can be confusing for a teen. And as much time as they had spent in Mexico or Colombia, they still struggled to bridge the gap between their two countries. At camp Javier and Danielle began noticing many similarities in their lives, the way they saw the world, and the way they wanted the world to be. It was clear to everyone that a soul bond was forming between these two kids, (look at the way Danielle is looking at Javier in this picture) …. clear to everyone EXCEPT THEM. Javier and Danielle would often laugh at the idea of ANYONE falling in love at debate camp. Wouldn’t that just be a distraction from the important things, like debate??? Even if they had admitted their feelings to each other Javier lived in Dallas and Danielle lived in Corpus Christi, a 7 hour drive between them. A relationship just wouldn’t work, and these kids thought they were too smart to ever consider doing something so dumb.

Research was done, debates were had, and the 2013 Dartmouth Debate Institute came to close. As Javier and Danielle went to the airport with all the other students, a feeling of dread washed over them. Soon they would be back at their own high schools where being an opinionated know it all was actually a disadvantage. But they also realized they would probably never see each other again, which was a source of pain they were -once again- too smart to even acknowledge. Javier’s flight departed first and as he walked up the jet bridge he and Danielle shared one final nonchalant wave. He sat down on his flight and she sat down in the waiting room for her own flight back to Corpus Christi. They both took a deep breath… and sobbed like they had never sobbed before. They would not see each other again for over four years.

From then on Javier and Danielle lived separate lives. Going to different colleges, experiencing new things, dating other people. Perhaps if they had ever lived in the same city they would have met up for coffee, but they never did. For four years they not once caught up or corresponded online, so Danielle almost didn’t believe it when she received a message from Javier one day on Facebook asking her on a date. The circumstances for starting a relationship could not have been worse. Geographically it was as if their college choices had caused them to switch places. Javier was now in South Texas and Danielle was in Dallas. Furthermore, Danielle was about to be living the debate topic. She had just joined the Peace Corps which would be sending her to Latin America to strengthen the relationship between the Dominican Republic and the United States. Knowing all this, Javier still drove five hours to pick up Danielle for their first date Halloween 2017. Realizing he only had one year before she would leave for the Peace Corps, they made the most of the time left together building the relationship that spanned the many hours of distance that was the I-35 highway. Until one day, at another airport Javier and Danielle said another tearful goodbye.

The first three years of Javier and Danielle’s relationship was long distance. Danielle was living and working on a mountain in the Dominican Republic with no electricity during the day and no running water. Javier began doing everything in his power to join her there. He learned Spanish, broke his lease, and convinced his company to let him work from another country. Danielle leased them a house, connected it to a power inverter, and secured the weakest internet connection in the Caribbean. Regardless, when Javier arrived in the Dominican Republic in November 2019 they were able to make it work. For the first time in their relationship, Javier and Danielle were living in the same place. If only it had lasted more than four months.

The COVID-19 pandemic took the entire world by surprise. At first Covid was just videos Javier and Danielle would see from the United States of people fighting over toilet paper. It seemed like a great time to be living on a remote mountain with very little contact from the outside world. It was then when Danielle received some shocking news. For the first time since it was created by President John F. Kennedy in 1961, the Peace Corps was being put on hiatus and all volunteers would have to go back to the United States. Danielle, who had been living in the Dominican Republic for two years, was given no time to say goodbye to her friends, students, and neighbors. The entire community was terrified. If the Americans had to leave town, what did that mean would happen to them. The community stayed up the entire night crying and helping Danielle and Javier pack their things. This was the most difficult night of Danielle’s life and without Javier there she has no idea how she would have gotten through it.

Once back in the United States Javier and Danielle began building a new life together in Dallas. As sad as they felt, they realized that they would never have to be apart again. Danielle began teaching International Relations at local high school. Javier worked from home as a software engineer and volunteered at the same debate nonprofit which had sent him to debate camp all those years ago. After everything they had been through, it was not a question of if they would get married- but when. They decided on the day after Fourth of July 2025 at the State Fair grounds. What better way to celebrate the greatest, most unlikely, Texan Latin American love story of all time?

J&D

Wedding Day