Ben and Thea met in middle school in Wisconsin. They were acquaintances but not the closest friends. They did take a picture together on an eighth grade field trip to Kettle Moraine State Park, which is where Ben ended up proposing to Thea all these years later. Ben’s family moved to southern Utah after middle school, and Thea later moved to Texas. After several years living in different states, they both ended up moving back to Wisconsin within a few weeks of each other in 2023. They hadn’t kept in touch but were still friends on social media, and seeing that Ben had moved back to Wisconsin as well, Thea slid in those DMs and invited Ben to a get together with some old friends. The rest is history.