That is quite a moving story. I dare say, it can be expanded into a hive post for us to consume!
I will say this to anyone we are willing to listen: I am mostly a clueless parent and therefore I don't consider myself an expert of the subject at all. My wife and I are school class mates, so we kind of are together for a very long time, and we see eye to eye on many subject and especially parenting. We try to learn as much as we can from our kids and they have been good teachers!
It is still one of the best things I've ever done. I am pretty sure I've written about it before but it's been a while!
I don't think anyone are expert parents off the bat. You learn on the job and try to use common sense and read a bit if you can. I think your intelligence and thoughtfulness would go a long way, as would your clearly strong relationship with your wife!
Watching my son parent now shows me did an okay job - he's a fantastic hands on Dad and draws clear boundaries as well as gives him freedom to discover and get his hands and feet dirty. I think we learn a lot from our own parents - the good stuff and the stuff we need to correct!