In 1997, I came into the world. Although I do not remember it, I knew my early years were filled with love and laughter and it was all because of my amazing parents, Heidi and Olaf Schueler.

I remember my childhood memories vaguely. I remember playing with too many Barbie's to count and I remember running around and riding my tricycle butt naked because I hated clothes. I remember my dad putting me on his shoulders in the pool and repeating "I am a tree in the forest, and someone is cutting me down... TIMBER!" as we splashed under the water. I remember my mother playing Barbie's with me and helping me set up the perfect house for my imaginary friends. I remember her saying that our cats were evil mountain lions when they would come near my Barbie creations. I had an amazing childhood, and its all thanks to them.

As the years went by, I started to develop a variety of problems, mostly with my mentality. I was a very anxious kid, who thought people were out to poison and harm me. I also thought that something terrible would happen to me when I would leave my parents for the night. It got so bad that they brought me to a psychologist, and things started to resolve. Along with my psychiatric issues, I also became very lazy in school. My grades were falling even in the fifth grade. I wanted to go outside, play with my friends or just watch tv at home instead of learning and doing well on my assignments and tests. In order to keep me on track, my mother and father were always in contact with my teachers and tried their best to help me. We would fight constantly about how I thought they didn't trust me and didn't think I was independent. This caused a huge strain in our relationship, but thankfully, in high school things got a tad better.

In high school, they supported me with marching band, and even provided clarinet lessons to help me grow in music. They helped me with troubles with friends, and constantly gave me advice for my most important social problems.

In 2012, I had my ear ripped off by a german shepherd while I was visiting Germany. That was the scariest night of my entire life. But I wouldn't want anybody else by my side. Here, in this scary situation, I had a mother that ripped off her own shirt just to use the cloth to try to stop the bleeding, and a father sit next to me in the operating room during my awake surgery to reattach my ear. They kept me strong and positive. They would constantly reassure me that everything would be okay, and most importantly, they always made sure I had a smile on my face.

I have a mother and a father that I can joke with, hang out with, and enjoy life with. I have a father who stayed home with me when my heart was broken and brought me flowers and let me cry on his shoulder. I have a mother that I can tell absolutely anything to, and get her most honest opinion on the situation, no matter how harsh it is.

I love you guys. You're my rocks and I wouldn't be as successful, or strong as I am today without you guys. You're my best friends.

XOXO

Your Daughter