Daniel and Sarah met in the summer of 2005 when they were both 15. She was in Cabin E and he was in Lighthouse. Daniel was what you might call a Laity Lodge “lifer”, spending every summer at camp since he was 6. Sarah had been only coming to LLYC since Cabin (2001).
Sarah says, “We may have met sooner, but Daniel had originally been a session 1 camper. Due to sports, he had to switch to session 2. I was originally introduced to Daniel by a close camp friend, Meredith Woolsey, who lived in his hometown of Corpus Christi. I had a crush on Daniel from that summer on, but it wouldn’t be till much later that I would realize what he really meant to me. God’s timing is truly incredible.”
“After that first summer, we weren’t more than a couple of acquaintances who ran around in the same group at camp every summer. Then in 2007, we both came back to camp to be on Work Crew and Program Crew. This was the summer we truly started to develop a lasting friendship that went beyond our mutual friends. I think we spent every “day-off” together, maybe there were different people with us each time, but we were always together.”
“We spent one more year living in separate cities and both graduated from high school, planning to attend The University of Texas. Our friendship continued to grow and so did my feelings. We had now been friends for so long, my biggest fear was that we would date, break-up and I would lose one of my best friends.”
Sarah continues: “Daniel and I both worked at Singing Hills the summer before our junior year at UT. I was a cook and he was a Federales counselor. It was another wonderful summer in the Canyon. I think it was then that I decided that I wanted to be more than friends. Daniel had mentioned before that he never came out to camp looking for a relationship, he wanted to give his attention to his campers and to his own faith journey. It was that following October, when we were both back at school, that Daniel invited me to be his date to a Texas Cowboys semi-formal. I don’t remember ever even having a formal discussion about our relationship, I think we both knew it was time to give into our mutual feelings. He invited me to a movie the next week, this time it wasn’t a group outing and we were together ever since.”
“Camp has always been a very special place to us as individuals, but now I think it means even more to us knowing that it is the place where we found each other. We both fell in love with the Lord in the Canyon and met our best friend. Since 2010, we have served as LLYC Ambassadors, assisting new families and welcoming them on the opening day of camp. We recently attended the LLYC 50th Reunion, getting to stay at the new LLFC Headwaters for the first time. It was amazing. Just like we never left. Growing up, I used to dread the year that I would “outgrow” camp and not feel like I was apart of the LLYC family anymore. I don’t have that fear any more. I look forward to many more trips to this magical place that hold so many special memories for both of us, and I look forward to the many new memories we will make there with our own family.”