My husband almost became someone’s “emento mori”

This took place around 2003, in a mall in South Virginia. I was a giant goth baby at the time (20 year old me is crying in shame as I write this, but like… it was the 00s), and my husband was even more so. <br><br>So here we are, wandering in stores dressed in all black, fishnet, leather, eating Cinnabon, and listening to music on our iPods. We were in Dillard’s (for the non US people, it’s a department store), looking at the colognes. <br><br>A woman comes up and strikes up a conversation with me. I don’t remember the specifics, mostly I believe we were talking about the smell of Opium (it’s a really strong perfume). She seemed nice enough. We told her about the black clothing and I eventually asked how old she was.<br><br>After she said 21, I jokingly (I thought) said to my husband “you’re good to go.”<br><br>Now, looking back as an adult, I realize that the woman *was not 21*. I’m not even sure she was 18. I’d guess more around 15 or 16.<br><br>She immediately started showering my husband with attention. Not in a “I have a crush” kind of way. I don’t think I can fully describe the way she was acting, but I can tell you this: she was acting in a way that, as an adult, would give me major red flags and would give me a seriously creepy vibe. She showered him with attention, paid extra attention to his long black hair, kept touching is hair and face, and eventually even sat on the floor next to him while he was sitting on a bench looking at colognes and 鄰gently touching his face in a motherly fashion. <br><br>At the time, being a goth teenager, I didn’t realize just how off the radar this woman’s behavior was. My husband did, though, and eventually made an excuse and dragged me out of Dillards.<br><br>It wasn’t until several years later that I started reading true crime stories and realized what she wanted. <br><br>For those who don’t know, “emento mori” is the remains of dead people that are kept as a reminder that everyone will die. The person who was trying to make my husband her “emento mori” was “Candace Marie Britz”. <br><br>I would highly recommend you Googling her name. I won’t go into details because it’s *just too horrible*. I just want to say that I’m glad my husband is alive and we’re married with a beautiful daughter.