A grandmother and a teen who met by chance through text are celebrating their 6th Thanksgiving together

 

 

What began as a text to the wrong number has now become a six-year ritual.

Wanda Dench sent a text message regarding her grandson’s Thanksgiving preparations to someone she assumed was her grandson in 2016. Dench had really texted Jamal Hinton, who was 17 at the time, by accident.

According to sister station WXIN, Hinton received the letter while sitting in his high school class and playfully inquired if he could come along anyhow.

“I said, ‘Sure you can.’ That’s what grandmas do – they feed everybody,” Dench told NBC affiliate KPNX at the time.

The story went viral after Hinton shared the text message on Twitter, and a new Holiday tradition was formed.

Hinton announced this week that he and Dench will be spending their sixth Thanksgiving together.
Dench and her husband, Lonnie, were both diagnosed with COVID-19 last year. Dench survived, but her husband died as a result of pneumonia and the virus.

Dench still invited Hinton over for Thanksgiving in 2020, admitting that the year had been rough but adding that continuing the unintentional tradition was “really important to me.”

According to WXIN, a photo of Lonnie Dench was put on the table with a lighted candle.