It’s been nearly one year since the former “Glee” star Naya Rivera drowned while out boating on a lake in California with her 4 year-old son Josey. Now, her father George is speaking out to say that the little boy was definitely Rivera’s number one priority.

“He really became everything for her,” he told Entertainment Tonight. “Her focus was really on him and he was growing up as she was becoming a mother, she really leaned into that, really leaned into that and the word I want to use is maturity. She became very mature as a person and really receptive to other people’s feelings. I watched the maturity in her after she had a child, before and after, big difference.”

Rivera was found dead on July 13 of last year five days after she went missing on Lake Piru while taking a boat ride with Josey. It is believed that in her final act of strength, Rivera mustered enough energy to push her son back on the boat.

“Sort of the same mantra she used for life, you know, preservation, keep going, when things are hard, you keep pushing,” George said. “It just shows you the strength of the person.”

George went on to say that Josey asks about his mother often, and his family does not shy away from talking to him about her.

“He says, ‘Oh, I used to do this with Mommy. Oh, I remember Mommy used to do this,'” he said. “It might be a cup out of the cupboard, it might be a snack and we go, ‘Yeah, remember when you did that?’ We don’t back off of that, we just keep reinforcing his values and our values.”

“Tough situation, especially because he was there — it’s not like you’re talking about a ghost that’s floating around, right?” George added. “He’s got memories as well, but boy is he coming around, right? Really strong kid. We handle him and we talk to him just like he’s a 5-year-old going on six. It’s no different but when he wants to talk about his mother, we talk about his mother, in conversation. He’s growing up and handling it really well.”