Congrats!!! You're so right--what a great ending to this chapter!! He sounds like a super athlete!! How about some pictures??? :-D
Empty nest isn't too bad--we bought kayaks and stayed busy. :wink: Although three years apart in school, both my kids left for college the same weekend! One attended the community college first, while the other graduated from HS a year early--it was crazy to have them leaving home the same weekend.
There are hard moments...my daughter and I are very close and I miss her friendship, but overall the quiet and privacy and clean house and less wash and dishes is pretty sweet. :-D And I communicate with my kids almost daily. My son came home from college every weekend so didn't have to miss him, :-D and my daughter emails often. If I don't hear from her for 2-3 days, it's because she's happy and busy.
You'll work it out.... be excited for him and there'll be less room for sadness.