When Kassie Ehll, 16, of Warrenton, was in eighth grade, her world came to a spinning halt. She spent many months in a hospital fighting her own demons that took away her health and her normal pre-teen life.

Depression and anxiety, particularly about her own self-image, were just two of her demons to fight. While hospitalized, her weight dropped, her kidneys shut down, and so did she.

“I had to decide,” said Ehll about her struggles. “If you keep treating the mirror like a god, it will always have power over you.”

As Ehll describes the fight she went through to gain perspective, she decided that maybe she had a message to give to other teenage girls who are on the same journey to find significance in their lives.

Looking from the outside, Ehll had everything going for her. But from from her side, life was dominated by fear and isolation.

After her hospital stay, she learned that gratitude for all the fullness of life was the thing she would embrace.

It was hard for her parents, George and Kelly, to watch their beautiful, talented, perfectionist daughter struggle. In hindsight, they are grateful they chose to intervene and help their daughter get the right treatment, no matter how devastating it was to watch her climb out from deep depression.

Today, Ehll’s life is full. She has thrown herself into school, charity work, conservation, art, poetry and skating. She does it all with the support of her family and her registered support animal, Sweetpea the cat.

Sweetpea fills a huge role by always being by Ehll’s side. Reminding her to take a break from trigonometry or calculus, Sweetpea calmly lays on her book or homework papers. As Ehll writes poems that express her emotions and experiences, Sweetpea is nearby.

Recently, Ehll knitted more than 50 scarves to give to children at Rebecca Boone Elementary School. She tells of a little boy who was so thankful to get one of her scarves, hugging her for long moments.

“It was one of my happiest days,” she said.

Her grandmother was instrumental in urging her to learn to knit and paint. All her paintings have a deep message — one entitled “Fear of Growing Up,” another called “Throwing the Mask Away.”

Among her favorite hobbies is ice skating, which she began at age seven. She shows her desire to be perfect as she practices her axles and routines. Her dream college is Colorado College, where she can continue skating once she graduates from Warrenton High School.

“It’s the only place (ice skating) where I stay home,” said Ehll of the feeling it brings her to be centered in her emotional state.

Ehll is also an up-and-coming conservationist and is the founder of the Ecology Club at her school. This summer she has secured a spot at a three-week Ecology Camp at Colorado College, learning about the biology and conservation of Colorado wetlands. Her dream job is to become a conservationist at a national park.

“I cannot stop saving things,” she said. That philosophy is tied directly to her love of conservation.

Her hero is her great-grandfather, who survived the beaches of Normandy in WWII.

“He was a firefighter, won the Silver Star and survived the war,” she said. This summer she and her dad will visit Paris and make a trip to the historic Normandy beach.

In her desire to make gratitude a priority in her life, Ehll is overwhelmingly thankful her parents stepped in when things seemed to be going wrong. She knows she was a completely different person as she was struggling, but now her outlook on life is optimistic and healthy.

“Happiness is flammable,” she said. “It will always catch others on fire. You have to be the one to be the light to others. You first have to light a fire in yourself.”

Ehll encourages other young women who are struggling with anxiety or depression to seek help. She hopes to one day publish her poetry so that others might know the journey from dark to light is possible.