My meeting with Jess Franco

It was many moons ago in the faraway land of Chicago. My beautiful wife, Martha agreed to travel with me with our three very small children and do nothing, but wait for me. I had the schedule for the RezenHed convention that Jess was to appear at. We were late. I figured I would see Jess for a few minutes and that was it.
I was wrong.
I forgot the time change and actually arrived before the panel was to begin.
Then I spotted him smoking with Lina Romay.
I froze like a geek in headlights and made my way to the room where the panel was going on.
I managed to ask a few mindless questions and he answered all of them.
Then I realized he was going to be in the convention hall and had a table. I got him to autograph a picture and Lina did the same for me. They both talked to me for a while and I gushed like a fanboy about A Virgin Among The Living Dead. He answered all of m y questions and seemed genuinely happy that someone liked a movie of his so very much. I bought a VHS of Franco trailers they were selling that I still have and he autographed.
It was because of that meeting that I arranged an interview with him and it was done in a weird way. Remember it was the late 90's.
I typed out a list of questions with huge spaces between each one. I mailed the questions to him, he wrote his answers and mailed it back. (And, yes, I still have the list).
I remember every minute of that time like it was yesterday. We all got our pictures together and none of us smiled. I know I was nervous, but it was funny that we all have such stone faces. I have to look for the picture. I know it's around the Waltz Compound somewhere and I will post it here.
I am so very grateful that I got to meet him. I could have listened to him talk for days.
But, I had the world's best wife in the entire world with a fan full of infants in downtown Chicago.
I had to go with my bag of signed photos and video tapes and know that I had finally met one of my favorite directors in the world.
Goodbye again Unca Jess.
I'm off to watch A Virgin Among The Living Dead...again.