Battle Priest

The idea for this book was conceived many years ago and would still be in the procrastination stage had it not been for encouragement of several and one person specifically. A long newsy letter was written to enclose to a second cousin with each Christmas Greeting for many years. Responses would always be, "O, your letter was so good, so funny, and we read it over and over. We laughed and wondered how you find the words to describe everything the way you do. You are a born writer and you need to write a book." Each year Jean would be more insistent until finally the author started her first book. In late August 2002, the writer stopped to visit with this special person. News that the book was well on its way was exciting to share. Mental notes were made as the reminiscing went back and forth from things that happened many years before. A few days later, the author sent some sample pages which included descriptive sentences they talked about. Within a few weeks the author received shocking sad news that this vivacious cousin had suddenly passed away. The visitation and funeral reflected her talents and her life with displays of her own original oil paintings, the framed photo of the airplane she owned and flew, and the journal notes of her weekly Bible study. A truly remarkable tribute to Norma Jean Smith Sweet who did not "live sixty years in this world for nuthin!"