Meant To Be: A True Story of Might, Miracles and Triumph of the Human Spirit - Softcover

In MEANT TO BE, author Roslyn Franken reveals the unforgettable true story of her parents, John and Sonja Franken - two unlikely survivors of World War II. While John, a young Dutch naval recruit in the Dutch East Indies, is captured at sea by the Japanese and must fight for his life as a POW, Sonja is taken by the Nazis from her home in The Netherlands to endure the horrors of Auschwitz and a series of other Holocaust concentration camps. Remarkably, John survives the Nagasaki atomic bomb and miraculously, Sonja escapes death in the gas chambers on three separate occasions. After suffering endless tests of faith and fortitude at the hands of their brutal captors, the war ends and the two are brought together in the most extraordinary of circumstances to rebuild their lives as one based on love, trust and commitment. When Sonja is diagnosed with cancer and John suffers a massive heart attack, they triumph once again by calling on the same daring and determination that allowed them to survive the war. When diagnosed with cancer at 29, Roslyn turns to her parents’ examples of daring and determination as inspiration in her own fight to beat cancer and become a long-term survivor. How did John and Sonja survive their captivity? How did they meet to find enduring love? What did Roslyn learn from her parents that can help us all live better lives? The answers to these questions and more are what make up the powerful story of MEANT TO BE. MEANT TO BE will capture your heart, uplift your spirit and open your mind to new possibilities, leaving you both spellbound and wonderfully inspired with universal messages on how to live a better life and make our world a better place.

Roslyn is a proud young adult cancer survivor who knows the power of emotional resilience in the face of change, challenge and adversity. She was born in Montreal, Canada, to a mother who suffered the concentration camps in Nazi Germany and a father who survived the Nagasaki atomic bomb as a prisoner of war in Japan. When diagnosed with Hodgkin's Lymphoma at the young of age twenty-nine, Roslyn quickly learned how she inherited her parents' perseverance and positivity as she herself fought back to become a long-term survivor. Then age thirty-nine, at her heaviest weight and concerned for her health, Roslyn decided to fight back once again - only this time to win her battles with food, stress and lifestyle challenges, once and for all! As an acclaimed author, international speaker and personal development coach, Roslyn now shares her parents' compelling survival stories, insights from her cancer journey and the proven life principles and practical wisdom that have helped thousands of people world-wide lighten up for good to a healthier, happier and more resilient life. Roslyn has a Master’s degree in Applied Human Sciences specialized in Human Systems Intervention from Concordia University in Montreal, Certification in Organizational Psychology with a focus on Executive Coaching through the Professional School of Psychology in California and MBTI® Personality Type Assessment Qualification from Psychometrics Canada. She is also the author of The A List: 9 Guiding Principles for Healthy Eating and Positive Living.