Teen Who Was Accidentally Invited to ‘Grandma’s’ Thanksgiving is Back for ‘Year 6!’
Our favorite Thanksgiving "family" is back at it again.
Year after year, it's the feel-good story that makes us smile like it's the first time, every time. Jamal Hinton still remembers that accidental text message from Wanda Dench like it was yesterday.
Back in 2016, the pair was introduced to one another by accident after Dench invited him to Thanksgiving dinner in a text message that was meant for her 24-year-old grandson. The only problem was, her grandson had switched numbers and his old number now belonged to Hinton.
While Hinton (who was 17 at the time) could have easily said "wrong number" and moved along with his day, he opted to let Dench know that he was still interested in coming over after swapping selfies—to which she replied "of course you can, that's what grandmas's do—feed everyone."
To date, it's one of the coolest annual internet things that I look forward to—and year after year, Hinton has kept us updated with each passing Thanksgiving holiday as the tradition has continued along with their friendship for six years now.
Jamal made the official announcement on his Twitter account sharing a screengrab of the invite from Dench.
I was a little bummed to see the photo Hinton shared of him along with his girlfriend Mikaela, Dench, and her late husband Lonnie, who passed away last April after battling COVID-19.
Even after losing Lonnie, Dench still invited Jamal and Mikaela to join her for Thanksgiving that year.
They took their annual photo that year, but made sure to hold up a photo of Lonnie in his memory.
Jamal and Wanda have spent time together outside of their Thanksgiving tradition, and genuinely have become great friends. As they gear up for year six, I'm reminded that it's really true what they say about people who come into your life for a reason.
While Hinton and Dench definitely have a unique story of how they came together, we can all agree that they were meant to be friends for the best of reasons.
As we do every year, let their friendship through the years be a reminder of what we can do with just a little bit of kindness and an open mind.