Auschwitz and the atomic bomb couldn't stop this love that was meant to be

SPRING HILL, Fla. - Feb. 6, 2018 - PRLog -- At 15, Sonja (nee Schoontje Pagrach) was taken by the Nazis from her home in the Netherlands to concentration camps throughout Nazi Europe, including Auschwitz. Sonja faced death in the gas chambers three times and survived. At 18, John, from the former Dutch East Indies, was drafted into the Dutch Navy Air Force. While still in boot camp, he was captured by the Japanese to become a prisoner of war. He survived the atomic bomb.

After the war, Sonja moved to Amsterdam and John immigrated to Montreal, Canada. Both longing to find everlasting love, they eventually met through a mutual friend. They fell in love through writing letters and exchanging photos. When they finally met face to face, they knew there was no turning back, they were meant to be together for the rest of their lives.

Following Sonja's passing, after an inspiring and courageous 21-year battle with cancer, their daughter Roslyn found all of her parents' love letters.

Roslyn interviewed her parents to know the details of their whole life story. In an effort to share with the world their incredible saga of survival over suffering, love over loss, and triumph over tragedy, Roslyn put her parents' love story to the page in a book she wrote entitled, Meant to Be: A True Story of Might, Miracles and Triumph of the Human Spirit. In her book she includes several excerpts from her parents' love letters.

To further share their story, Roslyn took her parents' story from the page to the stage with a multimedia presentation she delivers to diverse audiences including faith-based groups, schools, community organizations, Holocaust remembrance and education groups, cancer groups, corporations, and more.

In her book and presentation, Roslyn also shares how when diagnosed with cancer at 29, she turned to her parents' never give up attitude in her fight to beat cancer and become a long-term survivor.

For more information, visit www.RoslynFranken.com,