It was when Ryan turned to his wife and fervently asked if she thought he was a good man. He was asking if his surviving had been worth all it took in the face of what it cost. And it was also a question that, in his heart of hearts, every man asks at some point no matter what his life experience. There need be no shame, here, in that midlife is probably the modern time for the next psychological step of most men's maturation. This step is rarely accomplished earlier in a man's life.
Fatherhood can be good preparation.
However, it is not the end point, even if a man is a fine father. E ach gender of course, has its idiosyncrasies at various ages. Many people believe that teenagers of any age or gender cease, for the most part, to be human for the greater part of that stage of life. They seem to take on some unrecognizable form that only the likes of Steven Spielberg are able to deal with. Male children between the ages of ten and thirteen are, however, distinctly unique in the way in which they view the world.