"My life did not remain golden. I hit bottom," his sister Jane says. "But it continued for Mitt."

Yet, seeing the love of his life have to face a potentially crippling disease changed Mitt Romney. "It subdued him," Jane says.

The first two years after Ann's diagnosis were particularly trying, Mitt says. "She'd get a little better and then she'd get worse."

Meanwhile, his mother's health was also deteriorating, and in the summer of 1998, she suffered a stroke and died.

Eventually, Ann found remarkable relief through a surprising mix of treatments — mainstream, alternative, and equestrian.

To supplement her traditional care, Ann found a retired 80-year-old guru of reflexology by the name of Fritz Blietschau who agreed to take her on as a patient, helping her to build muscle strength. Ann also rekindled her childhood passion of horseback riding, finding that the exercise improved her mobility and spirits.

She was beginning to see how MS didn't necessarily have to mean a future in a wheelchair. The lesson was coming not in Belmont, where she had made her home for nearly 30 years, but rather in Utah, where her reflexologist and equestrian companions were both based.

By early 1999, Ann and Mitt were based there as well. That's because when the call came through offering Mitt Romney the opportunity of a lifetime, it also came with a Utah address.

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