Auburn resident Louise Frank’s new nonfiction book, “The Gift of Great Sorrow: A Journey Thru Pain to Purpose,” was selected as a 2022 International Book Awards winner.

Frank’s book, published in February 2022, details her 25-year journey with her children Leah and Joshua. At the age of six, both Frank’s children were diagnosed with a progressive terminal disease that eventually claimed their lives.

Embodying her father’s advice to “watch them live, don’t watch them die,” Frank founded the Joy Thru Tears Foundation in 2021.

The Foundation’s mission is “to grant the gift of a nurturing experience which will refresh and rejuvenate selected caregiver’s mind, body and spirit,” according to a press release sent out by the Joy Thru Tears Foundation on June 15. Any donations to the Foundation will be used to grant these gifts.

The Joy Thru Tears Foundation partners with The Make a Wish Foundation, Summit Assistance Dog Program and The Friedreich’s Ataxia Research Alliance.

To donate to the Joy Thru Tears Foundation, go to www.joythrutears.foundation/donate.