Meeting My Anne

I will always remember the summer of 1972. I had lived with a group of brothers at an old adobe ranch house just outside of San Luis Obispo while I was attending Cal Poly SLO.  I had gotten involved with the Intervarsity Christian Fellowship or IVCF group during my time at Cal Poly. I had been fortunate to get involved in a leadership position, which meant I got to attend an IVCF Camp in the Santa Cruz Mountains. Little did I know that this time in Santa Cruz with IVCF would change my life forever.

I will always remember driving my little Fiat Spyder on the curvy Highway 1 freeway from SLO town.  I was excited to attend this Bible Camp that would go over the gospel of Mark and also focus on the planning for next year’s IVCF group at Cal Poly. I was a little surprised to see a few more non-Poly students attending the camp. The old staffer, Mark (forgot his last name) was excellent in his overview of the Gospel and format for helping us read without allowing the chapters and verses to stop us from truly hearing and sensing what’s really happening in the text. It was during this first day that we split up into smaller reflection groups, which I was the leader of my mine.

It was during this small group time after our first intro lesson to Mark that I met this gal from San Diego. We had gone around the group and introduced ourselves and briefly explained why we were at the camp. She was the outsider because the rest of us were from the IVCF chapter at SLO. She or I should say Anne was from San Diego and was on her way to Ethiopia for a year to do a short-term mission. Her church required her to take some type of Bible training. I was fascinated by the way that Anne talked, she had a little bit of an accent and explained that she grew up in Pakistan.

I have to share the fact that at this point in my life I would have come across as a hippie or Jesus Freak who had long hair, a beard and dressed on the rather sloppy side. So I was surprised that as I talked to this foreigner that she was actually interested in my story. She told me after the small group about her family and what it was like to be come to the States when she was 16. I was fascinated by her reaction to the Vietnam War, rock music and the druggy life style. She clearly had a disdained for all of what seemed to make up my life.

The next day the afternoon was free and most of us went into Santa Cruz and hung out at the boardwalk and beach. I can remember body surfing and enjoying the weather. We ended up talking a little after I got finished body surfing and went for a walk. It wasn’t too long before we had to return to the camp for dinner and then the evening study. There was something about this Anne with her accent, unusual sense of humor and different type of beauty that caught my eye. She kept my attention and I had sworn to myself that I wasn’t interested in girlfriends after high school and had found many ‘sisters’ in the IVCF group that made it easy not to have a girlfriend.

The study of Mark was very intriguing and challenging. The bigger picture of the Gospels was starting to impact my life. I was starting to see Jesus as a real life person who was both man and God. It was after the study that they had snacks, which I indulged myself and then ended walking around with Anne. I didn’t expect to spend the whole night walking and talking with this new friend, but I did. I know that if you were to ask Anne what we talked about it would revolve around my former girlfriends. Yet, I remember a good portion of our discussion was her life, her family and her trip to Ethiopia.

I had pulled a few all nighters for school but never with a new friend where we just talked, talked and talked. I was enthralled by Anne’s spiritual side and wanted to better understand what it would be like to live between two different worlds. I had grown up in one country and hadn’t really traveled outside of the US. She on the other hand had lived in a Muslim Culture in Pakistan. Her mom was Scottish but had been born in India and grew up in a very different setting before coming to the States to attend college.

I noticed that the sun was starting to come out and realized I was about to get myself in trouble for being one of the key leaders who had stayed out all night with a girl and never made it back to my camp area. We decided to just walk into camp and go straight to the dinning area. Initially I felt like everyone was staring at me but realized that most were still waking up and even the IVCF staff, were just getting their first cup of coffee. I was flying high after talking all night with Anne and was drawn into her life and was jealous that she would soon leave for Ethiopia.

I knew that the camp would end and she would fly back to San Diego and I would drive off in my little sports car to my parent’s home in Yuba City. She had the summer to prepare for her coming year and I had to work between my neighbor’s peach weighing station and another friend’s prune dehydrator. My summer was nonstop work with the possibility of hanging out with the Fellowship Group, as my mom would call it. This was a group of Jesus Fanatics who love to study the Bible, sing folksy Christian songs and walk around telling people about Jesus.

We had exchanged phone numbers and addresses. I’m sure she didn’t expect to hear from me and I really didn’t expect to hear from her. Yet, it was only a few weeks and we had talked on the phone and exchanged letters. I know she didn’t expect me to land on her doorstep but that’s exactly what happened. I had become smitten with this girl from Pakistan who was leaving for Ethiopia soon. I had this desire to visit her and spend more time with her before she left. I know that the last thing her dad wanted was an interruption for his Anne before she left.

I’m sitting in a Bookmans in Flagstaff so I must close but will continue with part 2 of my beginning life with my Anne.