Re-Writing Sweeney: As Wondrous as Peru

 Gary loves to tell this story.

I am obsessed with musical theatre  - it's my great passion and Sweeney Todd is, inarguably, the greatest musical ever written (I know what I said - don't @ me).  When it was revived on Broadway many years ago, Gary arranged to propose backstage.  For me, the only thing more interesting than what happens on stage is what happens behind it, so I was positively mesmerized.  There is a lot to look at backstage - people scurrying about and set pieces piled around.  So much to look at, in fact, that I didn't notice Gary down on one knee, nor was I paying attention to his carefully scripted proposal.  When he was done making his grand, romantic speech, I responded by gently kicking him in the knee and saying, "Get up, the cello player needs through."  To be fair, the man was carrying a cello but still....
Gary loves to tell that story.
 
In the show, a young, bright-eyed sailor tells Sweeney:
        I have sailed the world
        Beheld its wonders
        From the Dardanelles
        To the mountains of Peru

To which Sweeney responds:

        I, too, have sailed the world and seen its wonders

        For the cruelty of men is as wondrous as Peru

 

 
I have worked in HIV social service for nearly 2 decades and thought of that line frequently.  I’ve seen families who are cruel to our clients, the community has been cruel to our agency.  People from whom you wouldn’t expect cruelty – doctors, teachers… HIV reminds me that the cruelty of man really is as wondrous as Peru.

That's not the case with dementia, though.  Everyone has been so kind and supportive - deliveries of food and offers to help watch him, occasional cards and heartfelt emails.  No, that's not the case with dementia.

Dementia reminds me that the cruelty of God is as wondrous as Peru.