A text message mistake brought strangers Jamal Hinton and Wanda Dench together three years ago. Now, they’ve celebrated their third Thanksgiving together, USA Today reports.
Dench is a grandmother from Mesa, Arizona, who usually hosts her family for Thanksgiving. In 2016, she sent the invitation for her dinner in a group text.
Unfortunately, she mistyped her grandson’s phone number. Fortunately, her text reached Hinton, then a 17-year-old high school student in Tempe, Arizona.
The two texted back and forth for a while, each confused as to who the other person was. Once the error was discovered, Dench told Hinton he was still welcome to come to her house for Thanksgiving.
Hinton posted screenshots of their conversation to Twitter, and the images went viral. Encouraged by the reception to the photos, the teen took the grandmother up on her invitation, and the pair became fast friends.
Hinton and Dench shared another Thanksgiving in 2017 and reunited for a third meal this year.
“Jamal is so awesome,” Dench told AZFamily ahead of their 2018 celebrations.
Hinton said the feeling is mutual. “Gaining a new grandma, I thought maybe I’d gain one getting married, but as a friend, it’s great,” the young man said.
“We’re more of an extended family,” Dench said. “And best of all, friends.”
Between Thanksgivings, the two friends keep up with one another. Dench met Hinton’s girlfriend last year, and the grandmother and her adopted grandson talk at least once a week.
Hinton said he appreciates the interest Dench has shown in his life and her encouragement as he works toward his goals of getting into a good law school and becoming a sports agent.
“The world is becoming a better place than it used to be,” Hinton said. “I love that you don’t have to know someone or know their background to be nice to them.”
With this year’s Thanksgiving come and gone, Dench and Hinton are already making plans for future dinners.
“Maybe I can invite you if we get our place,” Hinton told his adopted grandmom during their interview with AZFamily.
Dench is all about the idea.
“I would like to retire from doing the dinner and pass it on to the younger generation,” she said. “I’ll come and visit.”
