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Grandma And A Stranger Who She Accidentally Invited To Thanksgiving Share Their 6th Celebration Together
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Grandma And A Stranger Who She Accidentally Invited To Thanksgiving Share Their 6th Celebration Together

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We all have a different take on what family holidays mean to us. Some could agree that preparing for big family holidays can take a lot of time and could even cause some stress. For others, it is the most awaited time that allows us to see our loved ones, catch up with them, and finally have some quality time at home with good food. Being a caring grandmother, a woman named Wanda Dench wrote a message to her grandson Justin inviting him to their family’s Thanksgiving dinner back in 2016.

Instead of getting a reply back from him, Wanda found out that she had accidentally sent the message to another person. That person was 17-year-old Jamal Hinton. You might think that after realizing this mistake, the conversation ended right there as it usually happens, but this story turned out to mark the beginning of a very beautiful friendship. This year marks the 6th Thanksgiving that Wanda and her family have spent with Jamal and his girlfriend.

More Info: Twitter

In 2016, Wanda Dench texted her grandson to invite him to Thanksgiving dinner without realizing that it wasn’t her grandson’s number

Image credits: Jamalhinton12

After both Wanda and Jamal realized that there had been some miscommunication, the guy was still invited to “get a plate”

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Image credits: Jamalhinton12

After texting with Wanda, the guy shared this conversation on Twitter, showing that he promised to come by at Dench’s house at Thanksgiving. Later Jamal posted a picture on Twitter where he could be seen with Wanda after he was welcomed by “grandma” and her husband Lonnie at their house. People loved that the two actually met and it seemed that Jamal himself had a great time with the “grandparents”.

Image credits: Jamalhinton12

Thanksgiving wasn’t the only time when the couples spent time together

Image credits: Jamalhinton12

Soon after, Jamal, along with his girlfriend Mikaela, started spending some more time with Wanda and Lonnie, becoming really close friends. It soon became a tradition of theirs spending Thanksgiving and other holidays together. Through the years, they became really close, proving that even total strangers who might seem very different can become friends.

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Image credits: Jamalhinton12

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Image credits: Jamalhinton12

Image credits: jamalhinton12

Image credits: jamalhinton12

Image credits: jamalhinton12

During the pandemic, Wanda and Lonnie got sick with Covd-19, however, only the woman recovered from it

Image credits: Jamalhinton12

Image credits: Jamalhinton12

However, Thanksgiving in 2020 was quite different for the family. In March of the same year, both Wanda and Lonnie got sick with Covid-19. While Wanda was able to recover from the virus, her husband sadly passed away. Knowing how hard this was to Wanda, a lot of people online who knew the story of Dench and Hinton’s friendship started sharing their condolences and sending support to Wanda. Jamal also made sure that this all would reach his “grandma” by sending her a care package with all of their messages in video format. You can read about their 5th Thanksgiving together and 1st without Lonnie here.

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2020 was the year when the family had to celebrate Thanksgiving without Lonnie

Image credits: Jamalhinton12

They spent the evening remembering Lonnie and the time they got to share with him

Image credits: Jamalhinton12

Image credits: Jamalhinton12

This year Jamal and Wanda kept their tradition alive for the 6th time

Image credits: Jamalhinton12

Image credits: Jamalhinton12

Image credits: wandadench

Image credits: Jamalhinton12

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Konstancija Gasaitytė

Konstancija Gasaitytė

Author, Community member

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Konstancija is a Content Creator at Bored Panda. She has a bachelor’s degree in Translation and Interpreting and a master’s degree in Future Media and Journalism. She is very interested in sustainable fashion and is a perfect companion to go to second-hand shops and antiques for nearly anything: clothes, books or furniture. Her interests also include photography, literature and hiking.

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Konstancija Gasaitytė

Konstancija Gasaitytė

Author, Community member

Konstancija is a Content Creator at Bored Panda. She has a bachelor’s degree in Translation and Interpreting and a master’s degree in Future Media and Journalism. She is very interested in sustainable fashion and is a perfect companion to go to second-hand shops and antiques for nearly anything: clothes, books or furniture. Her interests also include photography, literature and hiking.

Saulė Tolstych

Saulė Tolstych

Author, Community member

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Saulė is a photo editor at Bored Panda with bachelor's degree in Multimedia and Computer Design. The thing that relaxes her the best is going into YouTube rabbit hole. In her free time she loves painting, embroidering and taking walks in nature.

Read less »

Saulė Tolstych

Saulė Tolstych

Author, Community member

Saulė is a photo editor at Bored Panda with bachelor's degree in Multimedia and Computer Design. The thing that relaxes her the best is going into YouTube rabbit hole. In her free time she loves painting, embroidering and taking walks in nature.

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juliacargile avatar
jaynekyra avatar
Jayne Kyra
Community Member
2 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

I remember the first time years ago they went viral with such display of kindness. I am glad they are still doing it and hope they never stop. Lonnie would be happy.

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juliacargile avatar
jaynekyra avatar
Jayne Kyra
Community Member
2 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

I remember the first time years ago they went viral with such display of kindness. I am glad they are still doing it and hope they never stop. Lonnie would be happy.

Load More Comments
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