Three days ago I had the most amazing experience playing in playback theater for a room full of (~100) grownups of the autistic spectrum (living in hostels in t

Three days ago I had the most amazing experience playing in playback theater for a room full of (~100) grownups of the autistic spectrum (living in hostels in the community, mostly with high verbal skills). The stories they chose to share were about couples. A loss of a lifelong partner, I want to see my best friend every day. I remember a story of a young man (in his twenties). He was advocated by his girlfriend to go up and share his story. She didn't talk but her body language was very convincing taking his hand waving it up in the air, smiling, looking directly at the host. He was very shy, and the host decided that it was not that she was pushing him to do something he didn't wanted, but that she was in some way representing him, and that shy people should also get their chance of telling their story. It took a while to understand his story, but in a nutshell her parents invited them (for dinner?) , and his parents did not. He couldn't answer some of the questions (such as what did they do at her parents house), so the host and him stood up hand in hand walked to his partner and she somehow helped him to feel good again (I think she said it was dinner, but they had this connection that was more than that). We played-back the story on stage (improvised play) in which they meet at work as they do every day, and then he talks with his parents over the phone and they invite them over for dinner. I can't describe the joy on his face. He no longer looked down, he was so happy. We were so happy! After the show, we met with one of their instructors and he explained to us that they rarely if ever get a chance to tell their story to someone that would actually listen, not to mention see their story on stage. After the show ended I went outside of the building to take a taxi and I felt in an instant how the war depression is weighting on me again (I'm from Tel Aviv/Israel everyone is depressed from the endless blood cycle). And then it hit me, that for the first time in a month, I was in a room with people that weren't depressed by the war. We are coming back a few months from now to another group and I can't wait.