Stamina and Guts-Straight From the CIA?

I don’t dig my birthday. I could tell you all the reasons why but that is not the point of this story. I just need to tell you that my parents call me every year on my birthday. It is usually the only day of the year that I talk to my Mother. I do talk to my Dad a little more than that-his birthday, Christmas and Father’s Day usually. Last week on my ‘lucky’ day, when they called to sing Happy Birthday, I happened to be driving and answered the phone. They sang together and then we actually chatted for 10 minutes or so. They asked after my children which is a very big deal and asked after my book, also a very big deal. After we hung up, I had plenty of windshield time to contemplate our communication; plenty of time to think about how my parents, my Dad especially, affected my professional life.

This past weekend Lou and I went to the IMAX Theater to see ‘Hubble’ in 3D. Settling into our seats, my thoughts went straight back to my Dad and the still fresh birthday conversation. My Dad is an amazing man. He was deeply educated at MIT and holds many patents, namely for the gyroscope. He founded Sperry Gyroscope and we found out just a few years ago, he was recruited by the CIA during his Sperry days and spent the rest of his career with them working in an extremely high level and highly secretive position. His professional career is still kept very tight lipped. Every now and then one of my siblings will hear a story and pass it on. We discuss in amazement and wonder. My Dad is somewhere beyond brilliant. He is the one who taught me determination and guts. From him I learned stamina and intestinal fortitude. I remember asking him once how he got up and made it to work every single day when I knew there were days when he probably needed to just hide. How he could get on that airplane and prepare to be gone from his family for an extended period of time. He told me that he did what he needed to do. I have said that same phrase myself many, many times over the years.

The ‘Hubble’ documentary was rather fascinating and I mentioned to Lou afterwards how I couldn’t help but have my Dad and his space involvement on my mind. One year on my birthday, my parents didn’t call. During this time we were lead to believe that Dad was designing payloads for the Space Shuttle, working for NASA. I wasn’t too worried about them not calling because there was a shuttle currently in space and I figured he was covered up with the mission. The shuttle was having trouble getting back to ground needing to finish a project and wait for weather to clear. Still a week after my birthday and no call, no news. Instead in the mail from Dad is a one page piece of paper with a New York times article taped to it. The article and picture are talking about how much, W. G. McArthur, my Dad, enjoyed his shuttle trip and his exciting first space walk. In my Dad’s barely legible handwriting on the same paper is a note: What a great ride. Can’t wait to tell you all about it. –Dad

No wonder he didn’t call on my birthday! My Dad was on the freaking space shuttle orbiting the earth and strolling in no man’s land! I called my parent’s house in Aspen, no answer. I called their house in California, left a message. I flipped that he didn’t tell any of us so that we could be watching him this whole time. I flipped because my kids could have been talking about Grandpa being in space at school! I called my siblings-all who received the same ‘letter’ and we were all flipping.

At this time we had no idea that our Dad was enmeshed in the CIA and could keep a secret better than anyone as obviously his whole life was a secret. He waited days and then finally called us one at a time. He wasn’t on the shuttle; he was ‘just’ in the control room. It was a total coincidence that one of the shuttle astronauts had his same exact name. Apparently they joked constantly, my Dad in the control room and his clone in space living out my Dad’s dream of being an astronaut.

So here I am many years later, celebrating yet another birthday and thinking about my Dad and his example of high-test life and career dedication. There are plenty of stories surrounding my Dad. How he ended up at MIT instead of honoring Canada’s request that he be on their Olympic Team, both summer and winter. How he accepted his job with the CIA. How he fostered determination and grit in his five wildly self-sufficient children. How his work ethic is evident in all of us. His story just may need to be told.

May you have a ‘Dad’ in your life to set the example of doing it and getting it done when you least want to. The example of being brilliant in what you do because that is what you have chosen. That you can take everything you learn and funnel it into being an entrepreneur who isn’t afraid to take risks and perform under pressure. May you take control of your business and learn from all the examples of success in your path.

I think this may have been a good birthday. Recipies From A Life: Essential Ingredients for Your Business Success. I may owe it to my Dad.