We met at a coffeeshop in the Gaslight District called Sitwell's.  We sat down to have coffee at about 10:30 p.m., and just started talking.  The next thing I noticed (besides Miriam) was that the coffeshop staff was putting chairs up on tables.  I glanced up at the clock and saw that it was 1:30 a.m. - Sitwell's had actually closed half-an-hour ago!  We apologized to the waiter for getting in the way of his cleanup, paid our bill, left a big tip, and went our seperate ways.

I simply could not get Miriam out of my mind.  I was already falling in love.   (It took her a little longer to come to that conclusion, but that's her story so I'll butt out).  I called her the next day and asked her if she wanted to go see a movie.  The Empire Strikes Back had just been re-released and we'd been talking about it over coffee the night before.  And as long as we were going out to a movie, would she like to get dinner beforehand?

Miriam's story and mine differ somewhat at this point in particular.  Upon further review I have to agree that her version is more correct.  I hope I don't have to get to used to agreeing that she's right all the time!

I had been there for about 20 minutes when I decided that I didn’t want to be THERE, but I didn’t want to go home, either. I didn’t particularly want to go to a bar or a nightclub, which was where one of my other friends wanted to go. So I looked around, and noticed Aaron the Rabbi wandering around almost as aimlessly as I was. I figured that if nothing else, he’d be interesting to talk to. So I approached him (Hear that, everyone? I approached him!!!) and casually asked if he wanted to go grab a cup of coffee. I couldn’t tell if he was blowing me off or if he really wasn’t sure if he would be allowed to leave, so I asked him again a few minutes later. At that point he asked Missy if he could go, and she said yes. We agreed to meet at Sitwell’s.

I got there first, and took a seat facing the door so I could see him when he came in. It took him a few minutes, and at first I thought I was being stood up. Then he came in, huffing and puffing. He sat down, and we started to talk. I was kind of concerned at first that I wouldn’t be able to find things to talk about, but that wasn’t a problem. We talked for hours - til they kicked us out at around 1:30, to be exact. As I was walking to my car after we said goodnight, I remembered the tarot reading that my friend Lynn (now one of my bridesmaids!) had done for me just that afternoon. "Keep an open mind". She cautioned, "the perfect guy for you is right under your nose, but you’ll have to be open to a kind of person that you wouldn’t normally date if you want to recognize him." "Nah", I thought dismissively, "He’s the RABBI!"

The next day I was cleaning my apartment and the phone rang. It was Aaron. "I was just wondering if you wanted to go to ‘The Empire Strikes Back’ this evening", he said.. It was a Sunday, and I had gotten my homework done, so I said yes. It was fun, and when it was over, he dropped me off at my apartment, and said that he’d see me around Hillel.

We didn’t see each other that much over the next couple of weeks, but on Saturday, March 15^th, he called and asked if I wanted to see "Return of the Jedi" that night. I said "Sure," and he said, "So how about dinner at seven, and the movie afterwards?" "Sounds good." I said. After I hung up, I thought, "Hmm, dinner, a movie, Saturday night. . . this is beginning to sound like a date!" In fact, I had to call a number of my friends to make sure that I was indeed correct. "But, he’s the RABBI!" I protested. "It CAN’T be a date!" In fact, I insisted on paying for half, thinking that I could keep it from being a date if I remained financially autonomous. I wasn’t sure I was ready for this. He was a complete gentleman, however, and dropped me off at my door without so much as a handshake.