From Virtual to Nuptial
A young couple has become an Internet sensation for the video they posted online of their first meeting.
The heartfelt moment, shared on YouTube in March, shows Cady Harris, 18, of Houston and Will Jarman, also 18, of Cleveland, Tenn., embracing for the first time after five long years of communicating with each other through the online video game "Halo."
"I was using Xbox Live where you can play with people all around the world, and even friend people as you do on Facebook. I was just playing an online game with a few friends I know from here and he happened to be in the lobby with us," Harris said. "He joined our game because we were doing well. We were talking through the mic. We'd play for hours at a time, then eventually friended each other on Facebook and it just went from there."
Harris and Jarman said they both started playing the video game in middle school. Hundreds of miles apart, they talked online for three years, speaking to each other through the microphone players can use on "Halo." They eventually began online dating, and two years later, arranged to meet in person.
Harris said despite the odd way they met, her mother and father approve of her recent engagement to Jarman.
"She approves of it. She thought it was weird at first like most people do, but once she talked to him a couple times she really liked him. Both of my parents do," Harris said.
The couple is now engaged, but have agreed to wait several years before actually tying the knot.
"We don't have much planned yet. All we know is we are going to be 21 when we actually do get married. Eighteen is too young. It all depends on his situation, because he's going into the Air Force. We're looking for something outside, something natural, very beautiful," said Harris.
Harris told ABC News she originally did not want her mother to record the first time she and Jarman met, but is very glad to have the memory caught on camera now.
"I was so nervous I couldn't move. I never thought it would blow up like this. We're just amazed and taken by surprise," Harris laughed.
The couple won't get to see each other again until August when Jarman will be in San Antonio for his brother's graduation from the Air Force. Harris and her entire family will be attending.
"My parents are coming and they're going to meet his parents. Will's going to come back with me to Houston and stay with me for two weeks," Harris said.
Harris may be young, but she has some advice for older people who may look down upon online dating.
"When you're online dating it's nothing physical. You have to actually just get to know the person for who they are. I've known him for five years, met his family, his friends, I know him for who he is. You get to know the person for themselves, not their looks, just for them," Harris said.
