Benjamin Cole Leasure and Kaleigh Belle Smith met the way all modern love stories start: They both swiped right, their hearts sparking with a fiery passion ignited by Tinder's digital flint.

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In October 2020, Kaleigh was a sophomore at the University of North Texas, living with roommates in Denton.

Ben was living in McKinney with his roommates and cat Cami while working for Allen ISD.

We will never know why the two had their location range so high. However, they both thought the other cute, so they decided to strike up a conversation, first on Tinder and then through a video call. They planned for Ben to come to Denton and visit her.

On October 2nd, 2020, the two met at Kaleigh's apartment. When she opened the door, the first thing Ben said was, "Wow, you are really pretty." And that was pretty much it for her.

Kaleigh and Ben hit the hotspots in Denton: pizza at Mellow Mushroom, snowcones at Gnome Cones, and a movie back at her place.

For Kaleigh, Ben was excited, talkative, and kind and made her feel comfortable.

For Ben, Kaleigh was attentive, funny, and sweet and made Ben feel calm.

The first date was a success, and they planned to see each other again the following weekend.

Kaleigh had just turned 21, and for their second date in Denton, Ben took her axe throwing. He won, but Kaleigh would argue that the judge liked him better.

Afterward, they walked around the main square of Denton and landed on a bench outside of Monk Tavern. There under the stars, Ben asked Kaleigh to be his girlfriend, and on October 11th, 2020, they were inseparable.

After Kaleigh graduated from UNT, she, Ben, and Cami moved in together and lived in an apartment in Plano, TX. Kaleigh started working as a technical writer for Austin Industries, and Ben started working in the IT department for Allen ISD. While living there, they got their hyperactive labradoodle, Chip.

After a year in their apartment, they realized they had big dreams they wanted to save up for. They moved to Fort Worth to live with Kaleigh's family. Ben then got a job with Grapevine Colleyville ISD, while Kaleigh still works with Austin.

On June 30th, 2024, Ben asked Kaleigh to marry him, and you probably guessed it, but she said yes.

Thus continues their happily ever after.

K&B