Appreciation

To all of the nameless teens whose questions fill this book, each of you are very special. I appreciate that you were open to sharing your worries and concerns with the world. You are in my prayers.

I cannot begin to express the gratitude I feel for the team members whose answers fill this book. These young people have been a great inspiration to me. They are beautiful examples to the rest of the world. Thank you Michael A, Maureen D, Ashley G, Tom J, Alex L, Amanda R, Austin R, Jenna T, and Karen T.

I must single out one team member and that is my son Christian. Christian went beyond the call of duty, putting aside everything else in his busy life to help me complete this book. He did it on his own and he did it joyfully.

I am grateful to the team members’ parents for lending their children to me. More importantly, for raising such awesome young men and women who walk with Christ in their everyday lives. Thank you Mike and Terri A, Tom and Ginny D, Ron and Cindy G, Jim and Ginny J, Bill and Joan L, Ed and Michelle R, and John and Mary Jo T.

I owe a great debt of appreciation to Father Jim S, for he is the one who initiated this book. The concept is solely his and I am thankful that he asked me to compile and edit No Question Left Behind.

Thanks go to Mike A who first introduced me to Fr. Jim and made the suggestion that Father and I work together. I am also grateful for Mike’s encouragement whenever I begin to doubt my abilities as a writer.

My sister-in-law Sue looked deep into her soul to write the foreword. She, along with her family, is a great blessing in my life.

Father Jerry V volunteered his very valuable time, answering my questions regarding Church teaching on a variety of topics. I will be forever grateful for his wise council.

I must give credit to Ed R for he dreamed up the title No Question Left Behind in a moment of inspiration. I am indebted to you Ed.

Thank you Mike An. for traveling so far to spend a day with the team members for the photo shoot. The pictures came out great. Another thank you goes to the Michigan Historical Center for letting us take over their building to get just the right background for the pictures. It was a blast.

There were times when team members needed help finding information to complete their answers. When I couldn’t help them, I turned to my friends. Thank you Anna A, Nancy B, Patsy C, Ann Marie H, Yvonne R, Marian T, Pete V, and Mike W. I am appreciative of your assistance.

My cousin Stephanie put me, and my children, up in her home during my trip to Chicago to meet with the publisher. Without hesitation, she also allowed me to use her home as a meeting place. She is a dear and I am blessed to call her family.

I am also blessed to have a husband and seven children who support my work as a writer and editor. Thank you Rob, Christian, Mary, Laura, Joseph, Gregory, Margaret, and Brendan for your love and your patience.

Some of the best questions in this book were found through online sources, probably due to the anonymity of the Internet. Thanks go out to all of the webmasters who maintain websites and message boards set up to help teenagers, particularly LifeTeen and TeenAdviceOnline (now defunct).

I am most thankful to God for all of His gifts, including the grace necessary to complete this book. I am also grateful for God’s gift of teenagers. They are wonderfully interesting people, caught between childhood and adulthood, fervently seeking Truth and trying to make sense of the world around them. This is their book.