Recently, a friend of mine in his mid-nineties was driving his car when he misjudged a bend in the road and ran into a guardrail. While the car is done for, my friend suffered some bruises, spent some time in the hospital under observation for a few hours and then was sent home.

My friend made the decision to never drive again.

For me – and I am not even a tiny bit unique in this – facing, accepting and managing loss can be painful, grueling and scary. Reality plays no favorites, and aging is part of reality.

My friend’s nearly instant acceptance of his non-driver status was something to behold. He called it a blessing. He was okay and no one was hurt. The signal that his safe-driving days were over had cost no life and resulted in no major injuries.

Watching my friend’s remarkable capacity for accepting the reality he found himself, something occurred to me, an awareness light went on, if you will.

Loss itself is a reminder that all of you is still present. The loss of a limb or a loved one or the ability to function one way or another underscores a truly beautiful reality. Nothing takes who you are away from you.