You Raise Me Up centers on the author's journey of coping with his wife's passing. Anyone who has lost a spouse can use this book as a tool to recover from loss. In this book, the author feels his late wife's outstretched- blanket that helps to cope through, "Grief", "to Smile", "to Laugh", "to Respect" and most important, "to Lead". Those were her "fruits" to live by.