A grandmother in Mesa, Arizona, and a young man whom she met in 2016 after texting the wrong number shared their sixth Thanksgiving dinner together on Thursday.
“Today marks our 6th Thanksgiving together,” Jamal Hinton wrote on Twitter, sharing a photo of himself with his girlfriend Mikaela and Wanda Dench, the grandmother who accidentally texted him six years ago, believing she was texting her grandson.
In the photo, Wanda can be seen holding a picture of her late husband, Lonnie Dench, who passed away in March 2020 due to complications from the coronavirus.
Hinton can also be seen in the photo holding up what appears to be a painting of the four of them: Himself, Mikaela, Wanda, and Lonnie, who is waving in the background with a halo above his head.
Last year, the group shared their fifth Thanksgiving meal together and honored Wanda’s late husband by placing a candle and a photo of him at the head of the table.
Hinton and his girlfriend had also brought Wanda a care package, which included a USB drive to plug into her computer, reported AZFamily’s Briana Whitney at the time.
“We love and support you, and hope this puts a smile on your face,” Hinton can be heard saying in a video on the USB drive. The video then cut to a montage of clips from people all around the country, offering Wanda well wishes in the wake of losing Lonnie.
“They had collected these wonderful well wishes from people everywhere around the United States and the world,” Wanda said, adding, “I did cry a lot through that, because it was just amazing and so touching, and all these strangers — how wonderful it was.”
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It all started in 2016, when Wanda texted a number that she thought belonged to her grandson, writing, “Thanksgiving at my house on Nov. 24 at 3:00 pm. Let me know if you’re coming. Hope to see you all. Of course that includes Amanda & Justin.”
“Who is [this]..” Hinton replied, to which Wanda wrote, “Your grandma.”
A seemingly confused Hinton then asked for a photo, at which point Wanda sent him a selfie from her office. Hinton replied with a selfie of himself, writing, “You not my grandma” with a laughing/crying emoji, before asking, “Can I still get a plate tho?”
“Of course you can,” Wanda replied. “That’s what grandma’s do… feed every one.”
After that, screenshots of the text messages went viral on social media. They later decided to meet in person when Wanda’s real grandson contacted Hinton.
Since then, the group has been getting together for a Thanksgiving tradition that Hinton said has “become a huge part of our lives.”
You can follow Alana Mastrangelo on Facebook and Twitter at @ARmastrangelo, and on Instagram.
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