Joni and I went to Casa Blanca, a Moroccan restaurant in Alexandria, Virginia, for our first date. We walked from her house talking about alternative music. Once at the restaurant, we were seated in a private booth where the waitress washed our hands. The food was excellent and we were entertained by a belly dancer.

After dinner we went to see Air Force One. After the movie we went back to her place where we talked for hours. About the only thing which you could say was not perfect was that Joni thought I waited way too long before finally kissing her.

I had to return to Abingdon the next day, but our fate was already sealed. We dated for eleven months thanks to America On-Line Instant Messenger, Joni's frequent flyer miles, and a lot of driving by me.

Finally we were ready for the next move.