Long live 'The American Dream'

Five years ago, during a layover in SeaTac airport, I met a woman we’ll call May. We struck up a conversation, the kind you don’t expect to change the trajectory of your life. After exchanging numbers, she told me if I ever wanted to move, I should consider Olympia.

“It’s a great place to raise a family,” she said, with the kind of conviction that only comes from knowing a place deeply.

A few years and a divorce later, sight unseen, I packed up the remaining pieces of my life and moved to Olympia with my son and our newfypoodle. I didn’t know the neighborhoods. I didn’t have family waiting. I wasn’t walking into a ready-made network.

What I did have was May’s number saved in my phone as “May (SeaTac Lady).” I called her, told her I was moving to Olympia, and asked if she’d like to grab coffee. She couldn’t believe it, but welcomed me with open arms. My determination and her voice were the only assurances I had that everything would be OK.

Today, I can thank her and many others for sharing their slice of Olympia with me. Together, it has given us our very own American pie. My son is thriving at a local outdoor school. I have been welcomed by Rotary members, Toastmasters, and a circle of civic life I could not have imagined when I first arrived. I have found mentors, friends, and neighbors who have shown me that wealth is not just about what is in your bank account, but who stands beside you when life is uncertain.

The American Dream is not a relic of the past. It is alive in every community where people reach out, open doors, and welcome one another. It is alive in the way strangers become second families. It is alive in the way we choose to show up for each other, whether through local clubs, schools, or small acts of kindness. In Olympia, it is alive and well.

Yes, money matters. Stability matters. But what truly makes a person rich is connection, the feeling that you are part of something bigger than yourself, surrounded by people who care about your success as much as their own.

We live in a time when the national story feels fractured. Headlines often tell us to fear one another, as though the next group is out to undo us. Yet, here in Olympia, among people with different beliefs and backgrounds, I have found the most soul-stirring sense of community.

Beyond belief, I know the American Dream is still here. I am living it. And we all can. Not through grand gestures, but through community and hope. There is so much goodness all around us. Sometimes all it takes is the courage to smile at the world, and more often than not, it smiles back.

This spring, my son’s class had the joy of joining Olympia’s Parade of the Species. Before the parade, May introduced us to the coordinator, Eli, who took us back into the city armory to see all the floats as they were being constructed.

At the end, Eli reminded us: “We all exist within the context of billions of miracles at any given second.” “The irony,” I thought as I strained to hear him. My son screamed and kicked on the floor nearby. And May sat quietly with him. A soft pillar of compassion and support.

Honestly, It was the most wonderful, truest statement I have ever heard. Because even on your most difficult day, if you never quite gather the courage to smile at the world, your existence is proof that the whole universe is already smiling at you. I challenge each of us, even if you cannot smile, crack a little grin and see how good it can get.

To friends and mentors like Susan, Larry, Craig, Marty, Doug, Huma, Rabbi Seth, Ava, Charissa, Michael, Lillies, and Lindsay, thank you for smiling back!”

Sharai Mason is a resident of Olympia.