Puzzling statement

I’m not going to comment on the tragedy of the 4-year-old disabled girl being drowned by her mother. What could I say that hasn’t been said, or thought? The mother has been sentenced to life in prison. End of her story as well.

I was just intrigued by what the girl’s father said: "It has been said in court that Naomi suffered from cerebral palsy. This is not true; she did not suffer at all. She lived life to the full and was an inspiration to us all.

“Naomi took everything in her stride and enjoyed everything. She was my constant companion; she was my best friend. She was my little princess."

I was with him... right up the point where he talked about his daughter being his “best friend”. An inspiration she could well have been. A happy child as well. Pretty too. His little princess, certainly. All within the bounds of possibility. But - his best friend? A 4-year-old child with cerebral palsy, best friend to her father, a grown man? How did that work?

I genuinely cant imagine considering any child my best friend - especially when he/she is really only a little child - however much I might love that child, and however much time I spent with said child. I havent come across any parent describing their little ones in those terms. But what do I know, I'm not a mother. Or a father.

So this isn't the most thunderingly important topic to choose for a post. But that statement puzzled me, and I didnt have anything else to write about, really.