"Mattie Belle Hoggard was raised on a tobacco farm near Sharpsburg, Nash County, North Carolina; married her husband Clarence, Jan 14, 1926 for 45 years before her death in a boating accident, July 26, 1972. They raised seven responsible, honest, and work-oriented children. If I Go First and Leave You Behind is a collection of Christian poems that offers a sincere look into a mother of ten children life's walk with Christ. Mattie Belle Hoggard was born in 1901, lived during World War I, the 1929 Great Depression, World War II, Korean War, and the Vietnam War. She lost three children, two at birth and one at eighteen months. The oldest son, Harvey, flew over two hundred war missions in Korea and Vietnam. Forty-eight years after her death, her youngest son, Rudy, has collected her poems. He found them written on magazine covers, inside books, Kleenex box covers, in letters, and just plain paper; anything close at hand to express her love and trust in the Lord Jesus Christ. Behind life's toils you can envision the simple life, a lady resting in her Savior's love. As Mattie Wrote in one poem, This Road of Life, My Lord has traveleed before me a long way down this road. There have been heartaches, sorrows, I could not bear. Then I knew my Lord, was there. He has been with me in heavenly places. He has been with me in valleys below. With Him no place is hard to go." (back cover)