When Ben and Billye Castinado got married in 1955, it was the best day of both of their lives. They wanted to be together forever, and they did enjoy 65 wonderful years of marriage. When Billye passed away in August 2020, it was the most horrible, painful moment in Ben’s life, and he continued to suffer extreme grief for a long time. Although Ben is still heartbroken about losing the woman of his dreams, a group that he joined last year – called Grief Share – has helped him find some peace and comfort in the midst of his grief.
JEFF FIELDER Editor
SCOTTSBLUFF – Ben Castinado Jr. walked into his Spanish class at Scottsbluff High School for the first time and took a seat against the wall.
Almost immediately, he noticed a girl, Billye, sitting on the other side of the room next to a window. Ben didn’t want to stare, but he couldn’t help but admire her beauty.
“I thought she was so pretty,” he said.
It was 1953, and Ben was a junior at SHS while Billye was a sophomore. For the first few weeks of that Spanish class, Ben would take his seat and then glance across the room to see if Billye was there.
She was, and Ben wished he could introduce himself to her, but he wasn’t sure what the best way to do that was.
Finally, one day he came up with a plan. He raised his hand, and when the teacher called on him, Ben told the teacher that he needed to sit by the window on the other side of the room so he could get more air. The teacher said that was fine, so Ben took the open seat located directly behind Billye.
“She kind of gave me a look like, ‘What are you doing?” Ben said with a laugh.
You can read the entire story in the March 2022 issue of Nspire Today! magazine. A one-year subscription (12 issues) is only $20. You may sign up for a subscription by sending $20 to Nspire Today!, P.O. Box 454, Scottsbluff, NE 69363, or you may pay with a credit card by calling 308-220-8865.
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