By: Sandra Sobieraj Westfall
People
Thursday, Jul 26, 2007
"Ann Romney, wife of Republican presidential candidate and former Massachusetts governor Mitt Romney, finds strength in her family and her horses – and she's emerging as a potent political force this campaign season.
"'Ann deserves a lot of credit,' says GOP pollster Neil Newhouse. 'Politicians talk about family values, Ann and Mitt Romney live them.'
"Her husband calls her 'one of America's great moms' – a description she's 'totally satisfied with.'
"Mrs. Romney, 58, invited PEOPLE into the sunshine-yellow sitting room of her Belmont, Mass., home on June 12 to talk about her Mormon faith, raising five boys, living with Multiple Sclerosis – and her designs on the White House."
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What do you most want people to know about you?
"The thing people are most curious about is that I have MS and then the fact that I've overcome it. When you're used to being healthy and strong and vibrant and everything and then – bang – overnight you're desperately ill, it's frightening. People liken it to the same stages you go through grieving a death, where it takes a long time to accept it. Now that I've had it a number of years, I spend a lot of time on the phone privately talking to people who have just been recently diagnosed. That's my way of helping others. I always recommend going to a good doctor, doing the right medicines and then combining that with holistic [treatments.]"
What was your experience with MS like?
"I had a very aggressive deterioration where I went from a matter of – October to December 1997 – of my whole right side going completely numb and being completely weakened and, I mean, I don't want to get that graphic about what happens, but you lose bowel and bladder control. It's so scary, you can't even imagine. I thought it was moving so fast it was going to kill me. But for me, I was put on a 9-month course of intravenous steroids and that worked like a charm. The thing is, you want to caution that everyone's diagnosis is different and everyone's treatment is different. I was having enormous fatigue and that's where the holistic part helped me. So, the steroids worked for stopping the progression and the holistic part helped me with energy."
You used horseback riding as therapy?
"This enormous joy and passion that I had with riding horses got me out of bed, got me motivated, got me physically moving again, removed me to a very happy place and I would have so much joy and happiness and just so much fun while I was on the horse that I would even forget I was sick. Now I was really, really weak at the beginning when I was first riding. I had always dreamed that I might be able to even compete in the Grand Prix ring. Well, last year, not only did I compete, I earned the Gold Medal for the United States. Not only did I compete in Grand Prix, I'm also the highest-ranked Grand Prix rider in New England. Amateur, but still."
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As first lady of Massachusetts, you were active in teen pregnancy prevention and faith-based work with inner-city children. Would you continue these in the White House?
"I think that would be very similar. MS awareness and working to make sure that at-risk youth make right choices. Every child is terrific they just need to be given the opportunity to make the right choices so they can have a more fulfilling and rich life. "
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What's your favorite memory from raising five boys?
"It was wild. It was rowdy. There were times when seriously you just wanted to pull your hair out because you'd wish they would just be quiet for a minute, or sit, or even bake cookies or pick up their dishes or any of that, which never happened spontaneously. But then there were the fun times when honestly, they were so silly, the five all together that you just laughed a lot because there was just so much exuberance and happiness. I learned a lot from having boys."
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What keeps you in love with your husband?
"No one's ever asked me that. I think we enjoy each other's company very much. We just enjoy being with each other. Sometimes we can just sit in a room and not talk; it doesn't matter. We just want to be together."
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