I wrote about my dad a year ago. I was very proud of him for what he had accomplished, and as time passes I find I’m exponentially more proud. You might know him, or perhaps you read about him in the TH recently.

Most know Robert Parks now as Marine Bob, Dubuque’s Toys for Tots coordinator. Over three years since taking on the duties, the retired insurance and investment broker and former Marine has taken the collection from 3000 toys for local kids to over 20,000 toys serving children in four counties, having added Grant County, Jo Daviess County and Jackson County to Dubuque.

The article about him in the TH last week was very nice, though they painted him as being near death. In truth, he’s getting much better everyday. Tim, our editor at 365ink, likens dad to Keith Richards or Al Davis: “That man cannot be killed by conventional weapons,” he says. Dad has shrugged off cancer twice before. The second time was last year in-between Toys seasons when a bad cold was the precursor to a very early case of lung cancer. Following surgery, he was back at it without missing a beat.

This year, his third cancer affected his neck and came with bad timing, as if there is ever good timing to find cancer. He has just finished his chemotherapy treatments and, as many of you have experienced, is very tired. He also has been unable to speak. While normally, the family might think this a blessing, it is most inconvenient to a man organizing the efforts of volunteers across four counties. How does he still do it all. The answer? Mom.

While we’ve all found ourselves this year meeting early morning semi trucks at warehouse docks unloading toys and books to donated storage space by great people like Restoration Warehouse, Tim McNamara and Kwik Stop, it is Mom who has become Dubuque’s Mrs. Claus. Her recent retirement should have left her with time to, uh ... help out at 365. But perhaps by some unseen grace, her free time came just in time to care for her own mother, as Alzheimer’s has placed a quick grasp on her. And, as if to test her malleability, Dad was diagnosed once again. And the holidays were looming in the future.

Having spent many years as the miracle-working office manager at Keystone Area Education Agency, she’s used to juggling many things at once. I imagine this curveball has given her a special challenge, but as of this writing, she’s maintained her sanity and there are just a few days left in the collection season. The whole family is coming together over the weekend with truck to make the finally collection rounds in the Dubuque area. Many thousands of toys have already come in, been sorted and gone back out to agencies and volunteers helping to cover such a broad area.

Through all the adversity, the tag-team effort continues to work wonders, turning thousands of dollars in cash into tens of thousands of dollars in toys while coordinating partners and volunteers across a network Marine Bob has created through three states. And Mom even made her treasure trove of Christmas cookies somewhere in the middle. Dad called today. His voice is raspy, but no longer just air. He asked me to pick up the Toys banner from Five Flags where they had a teddy bear toss in conjunction with the Thunderbirds hockey game over the weekend. He’s starting to take in tiny bits of soft food that don’t have to come in through a feeding tube, but his temporarily ravaged taste buds are not making it taste very good. But he’s a marine. I’m sure he’s had bad food before. I’m quite looking forward to buying him a big juicy cheeseburger as soon as he’s ready to tackle it.

Toys for Tots is nearing the frenzied final days. I’ll bet nothing would make Dad happier than if we all would make these final collections ... so much exhausting work because we’ve overfilled the toy boxes spread across the Tri-States. And if you are reading this too late, a cash donation for next year will, I’m sure, help Dad get ready for next year. I have no doubt he will begin that process sometime in January.

People often ask where we get the consistent energy to do all the stuff we do in the community at 365. Well, now you know. We had pretty good role models growing up. Merry Christmas, Mom and Dad.