Grandma And A Stranger Who She Accidentally Invited To Thanksgiving Share Their 6th Celebration Together
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”
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.
Image credits: Jamalhinton12
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.
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
177Kviews
Share on Facebook
I've watched these for a few years... so happy and sad this one
Load More Replies...
The fact that they set his picture at the table brought tears to my eyes.
@Shakir Shakir, not the time to talk about your job!!
Load More Replies...
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.
Same here. I am very happy to see that it is still going on.
Load More Replies...
This is how we should see one another: people. Not colors. not culture, not religion, but just people. Everyone should be doing this. We always invite people who work for my husband and they ARE friends, because they might be alone on Christmas or Thanksgiving or whenever, or they just want to join us.
The painting of Lonnie as an angel... awesome. Also, that Vancouver Grizzlies jersey 🔥🔥🔥
I thought the same thing about the jersey. (I'm from the Memphis area.) The painting is too bittersweet to handle.
Load More Replies...
Can you cut a lot less onions I'm catching the onion all the way here in Kansas so now I'm watering up too
Load More Replies...
my husband just left in an ambulance Thank you! for this at just the right time!
My best wishes to you husband! Stay strong, both of you
Load More Replies...
It's so lovely they have become close friends and been there for Wanda in her loss.
Oh man... remember seeing the 1st story of this years ago. This update got me right in the gut.. so sad and yet very wholesome. True role models all round.
This is my favorite thing to see every Thanksgiving! Sleep in peace Lonnie
I'm so glad they still continue to meet. Definitely puts a smile on my face.
I'm not crying... I love this! And I'm glad that they've become friends over the years. However, Jamal, that's STILL your girlfriend? Where's the ring at? Lol!
I love how a wrong number text turned into an annual tradition and deep friendship. So amazing!
I remember this story, it is so nice they have such a nice friendship.
I'm so sorry for their loss but the tradition they follow is wonderful.
Why can't Covid just kill all assholes and spare the good ones? -.- This sucks
i remember seeing this for the first time. i cant believe it's been six years. rest in peace lonnie.
I love this so much and am so glad the tradition continued!
I love this family so much. I hope they continue to celebrate together.
My wife and \I made a habit of inviting people to Thanksgiving dinner who would otherwise have had nowhere to go. You would probably be shocked at some of the people who fall into that category. One party we knew ranted against the holiday, and we chose not to invite him. Believe it or not, he showed up anyway!!
This is a lesson to anyone who doubts we are all really one family!
I have loved this story since the first year. I'm so happy they've continued doing this. I was heartbroken when her husband passed.
I love this story. I've literally followed this story for years n it always guarantees a few happy tears. So beautiful. I just love the contrast between their ages n cultures n how something so simple n random brought them together n now they have a tradition of spending the holiday together based off of pure randomness. It's just crazy. I love it. It just goes to show you that you don't need to share DNA to be family. The fact that he now brings his gf too is seriously amazing. I will never not love this story.
I live here in Phoenix, and I always thought these two's features were really similar, Ya'll look alike now. Your family.
So sorry to hear that Lonnie has passed away. This is a beautiful friendship
I've watched these for a few years... so happy and sad this one
Load More Replies... The fact that they set his picture at the table brought tears to my eyes.
@Shakir Shakir, not the time to talk about your job!!
Load More Replies... 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.
Same here. I am very happy to see that it is still going on.
Load More Replies... This is how we should see one another: people. Not colors. not culture, not religion, but just people. Everyone should be doing this. We always invite people who work for my husband and they ARE friends, because they might be alone on Christmas or Thanksgiving or whenever, or they just want to join us.
The painting of Lonnie as an angel... awesome. Also, that Vancouver Grizzlies jersey 🔥🔥🔥
I thought the same thing about the jersey. (I'm from the Memphis area.) The painting is too bittersweet to handle.
Load More Replies... Can you cut a lot less onions I'm catching the onion all the way here in Kansas so now I'm watering up too
Load More Replies... my husband just left in an ambulance Thank you! for this at just the right time!
My best wishes to you husband! Stay strong, both of you
Load More Replies... It's so lovely they have become close friends and been there for Wanda in her loss.
Oh man... remember seeing the 1st story of this years ago. This update got me right in the gut.. so sad and yet very wholesome. True role models all round.
This is my favorite thing to see every Thanksgiving! Sleep in peace Lonnie
I'm so glad they still continue to meet. Definitely puts a smile on my face.
I'm not crying... I love this! And I'm glad that they've become friends over the years. However, Jamal, that's STILL your girlfriend? Where's the ring at? Lol!
I love how a wrong number text turned into an annual tradition and deep friendship. So amazing!
I remember this story, it is so nice they have such a nice friendship.
I'm so sorry for their loss but the tradition they follow is wonderful.
Why can't Covid just kill all assholes and spare the good ones? -.- This sucks
i remember seeing this for the first time. i cant believe it's been six years. rest in peace lonnie.
I love this so much and am so glad the tradition continued!
I love this family so much. I hope they continue to celebrate together.
My wife and \I made a habit of inviting people to Thanksgiving dinner who would otherwise have had nowhere to go. You would probably be shocked at some of the people who fall into that category. One party we knew ranted against the holiday, and we chose not to invite him. Believe it or not, he showed up anyway!!
This is a lesson to anyone who doubts we are all really one family!
I have loved this story since the first year. I'm so happy they've continued doing this. I was heartbroken when her husband passed.
I love this story. I've literally followed this story for years n it always guarantees a few happy tears. So beautiful. I just love the contrast between their ages n cultures n how something so simple n random brought them together n now they have a tradition of spending the holiday together based off of pure randomness. It's just crazy. I love it. It just goes to show you that you don't need to share DNA to be family. The fact that he now brings his gf too is seriously amazing. I will never not love this story.
I live here in Phoenix, and I always thought these two's features were really similar, Ya'll look alike now. Your family.
So sorry to hear that Lonnie has passed away. This is a beautiful friendship
659
87