English roots

Dear Editor,

Anticipation and excitement seemed to radiate from all directions in Great Britain with the hosting of the Summer Olympics.

Signs were displayed with "Keep calm, carry on, it's only the Olympics" printed on them.

Even Piers Morgan, CNN news commentator, got into the act. He and Mitt Romney compared their English roots in an hour-long interview with Mitt and his wife, Ann.

Miles Romney, a great-grandfather of the 2012 presidential candidate, was born in Preston, England, north of Liverpool.

Preston is known for its Romney sheep, a breed raised for their fine wool.

Mitt's ancestors left England in the 1860s and pushed handcarts with early Mormon pioneers across the plains of Nebraska.

My Danish ancestors, the Hjorth family, traveled with the Romneys. Thee English converts and Danish converts left western England together and headed to Utah.

Remembered for saving the Winter Olympics in 2002, Mitt didn't want to miss the 2012 Summer Olympics opening ceremony.

Ann was there because her horse was entered in a special equestrian event.

Ann spoke with Piers Morgan about her battle with M.S. At first, doctors thought she might have ALS or Lou Gehrig's disease.

In 1993, I had a similar questionable diagnosis of Lou Gehrig's disease. (This famous baseball player died of it in 1941.)

Doctors in Kearney did tests and determined that I had Guillain-Barré syndrome.

Guillain-Barré strikes one person in 100,000 people. It is the result of the body's immune system attacking the myelin covering the nerves along the spinal chord.

In 1999, Ann Romney was shocked by her diagnosis, but was determined to be positive.

She said "I rode horses when I was younger. I am going to get back up on the horse before I end up in a wheel chair."

Like Anne, I was devastated. The paralysis that hit me was almost too difficult to endure. Then I fulfilled a lifelong dream of traveling to Israel and Egypt. It was marvelous, even though I did it in a wheelchair. A friend accompanied me and other members of our tour group assisted us on cobblestone streets and challenging situations.

Helen Ruth Arnold,

Trenton, Nebraska