: Ten years ago (holy crap!), I bought an Xbox for my sister
: ("Mango") so that she could play Halo 2 with me when I was away
: at college. She'd been to several Halo 1 LANs with me and got to be pretty
: good at sniping fools out of the Warthog. With Halo 2's online
: matchmaking, Xbox Live voice chat was cheaper than cell phone minutes and
: blasting fools is a fun way to keep the family bond strong. Siblings who
: capture the flag together stay together!

: As it turns out, "Matchmaking" is a more apt description than
: Bungie realized at the time. Shortly after Halo 2's launch, Mango met a
: high schooler ("SpidermanBBQ") from Indiana (we were in
: California), and before long the two of them were staying up late playing
: Halo and/or chatting on the phone together. They would coordinate their
: playtimes, help each other do homework, and for well over a year they had
: a long-distance relationship without ever actually meeting in real-life.
: Eventually they decided that it was time to meet in person, and you can
: probably imagine my father's (well-intentioned) reaction to this
: proposition.

: It was decided that both families would meet in San Francisco for a long
: weekend together, so eight years ago, amidst the backdrop of another FIFA
: World Cup, Mango and Spidey met for the first time! The families hit it
: off, and the couple was officially "together" at last. Through
: college, the two of them held a long-distance relationship before she
: eventually moved out to Indiana where they've been for the last several
: years.

: I'm happy to report that the happy couple is now married as of this last
: weekend! The wedding had a "vintage travel" theme, but I
: couldn't resist dropping a nod to their Halo origins with the cake, and
: someone painted a cute image on one of the coolers. The cake toppers were
: a complete surprise for them, and they seemed to think it was pretty
: great. :)

: If they're reading this, I love you both and wish you the very best! May you
: always have Host and your aim be true!

:
:
:

Actually picked up the HBO shirt with my brother-in-law since he and I became life long Halo buddies since his sister brought him to a Halo LAN back in high school.

Awesome to hear about other people making connections over Halo!