When I heard my first husband was missing and probably murdered, I laughed.  This was hysteria.  

Robbie Parker seems to be a Christian who believes his daughter is in heaven.  So it is natural that all sorts of emotions would be expressed during this mourning period.
He would laugh and smile thinking, as he put it, of her "gifts from her Father in Heaven."  And of course he would then turn into a tearful face, knowing she was gone, even though she was with her Father in Heaven.

When confronted with a violent and unexpected death, a person can feel the utter disorientation of it all.  And laugh.  I did, and I am not callous.  I later went to grief counseling, which helped.

People have been saying Robbie Parker was a fake.  I do not think so.  Absolutely real.  Whatever else is a fake in this situation it is not this father.

I think it is wonderful that he was able to express what was good in Emilie's life, including the gifts from Father in Heaven.  It was a Christian testimony.  But of course it could seem bizarre to some who watched.  

Mariel Rowina