Success - by someone I don't know named John

What is it that you’d have me say – your son who knew you well?
Of your strengths – that there were many,
That your weaknesses were few
That every man you’d ever met
Would have looked up to you
That you’d climbed a mountain through a raging storm,
That your wit brought laughter, your passion drew tears
That a stronger man was never born,
And in your presence I had no fears
That thousands worked beneath you - you commanded their respect
That as a businessman you were admired by peers
For your power and intellect
 That you could silence a room when you broke into song,
Play like Clapton, or dance like Fred Astaire
That for every critic of your talents,
There were fifty to say that one was wrong
That in love you were envied - your gorgeous, new, young wife
Showered with gifts this modern-day Venus
A tribute to your life
That you’d built up a great fortune
Left to your wife and son
The private jet, the villa in France -
a reminder of what you’d done

OR

That an empire wasn’t left behind
To show the life you’d led
But rather a mass of people
Better off for what you’d said
That you’d tried to climb through a fierce storm
But the mountain, in the end, had won
Yet you’d convinced me that, with my strength,
You knew it could be done
And that of your talents
I’d been made aware of few
But of every skill I’d ever had
I was convinced you knew
That just eleven worked with you -
you knew them all by name
That they laughed with you –
they were your friends
And of you, they’d say the same
Or of the last gift you’d given Mom,
She couldn’t say just when
But that she knew, with the pick of the world,
You would choose her again
And while you’d worked as hard as most
And may have amassed great wealth
You chose a simple life
And passed the benefits to someone else
That you’d gifted not just with notes and coins,
But had given me your time
You’d listened to my hopes and fears,
And then said, “I’ll tell you mine”
I know that recognition, power and wealth
Were things not sought by you
So I’m glad I could pay tribute
To the great things you did do
I realize your value was not
Confined to things you said
But that you gave up some of your own dreams
To work on mine instead
Success, as I’d like to find it,
Is what you’ve shown it to be
As for all my faults, you made me feel
Like you were looking up at me