Letting go - part 2

Just when I thought I had delt with the whole independance thing in regards to my 15 year old, here comes summer vacation and full-time employment, cutting another snip in my apron strings. My husband owns his own business on our property, which means employment for my sons is pretty much a given as soon as they are physically capable. Last summer at 14 my eldest began working full-time on the property under the supervision of my husband, and I thought that this routine would continue into adulthood until he began a career of his own. Well, I never even considered that my husband would allow our son to begin work at 5 :30 am and would spend the summer working with the instalation crew under the supervision of one of my husband's partners. This is a hard-core group of men. Although they are all hard workers, and I have no fear for my son's safety, he is definately going to get an education in a part of society that I'm not sure he knew existed before now. As hard as it is for me to let this happen, I know that it has to. The sooner that he is aware of where bad choices take you (alcohol, drugs, etc. - because this is what most of these men have been into), the more likely he is to veer away from these kind of lifestyle choices in the future (I pray). I also agree with my husband that our son will probably learn alot more, and work harder for someone other than his dad, and I guess that I just have to hope that as with school work, the things that we've taught him up to this point are going to be enough to guide him in the right direction.
My son started his third day of work this morning, and I must say, his maturity amazes me. He is the first one up in the house at 5am, and has his lunch made and breakfast eaten before he leaves at 5:30. Although he's worked long hours, and is probably pushed to his limits physically, he has not complaigned. He is becoming a man before my eyes. I'm just not sure if I'm ready for this yet. It seems like yesterday that he was a tiny little colicky baby that wouldn't stop crying..............................now it's me who sheds a tear as my boy becomes a man.