Texting the wrong number can be awkward, but for one Arizona grandma, it also lead to a great friendship and annual tradition. In 2016, Wanda Dench accidentally invited a stranger to Thanksgiving. She texted then-teenager Jamal Hinton saying that Thanksgiving would be at her house at 3 p.m. Jamal texted back asking who sent the message, and Wanda replied with, "Your grandma." Jamal told Wanda that she sent the message to the wrong number, but followed up with, "Can I still get a plate tho?" This year, Jamal and Wanda will spend Thanksgiving together for the eighth consecutive year.
"Of course you can. That's what grandma's do … feed everyone," Wanda replied in 2016. The story went viral, and the tradition continues. Jamal has posted a Thanksgiving update each year, sharing pictures of him and Grandma Wanda celebrating the holiday together.
In this year's update, Jamal shared that two more people will be invited to have Thanksgiving at Grandma Wanda's house through a promotion with Airbnb. "Exciting news, guys – our Thanksgiving year 8 plans are with you! With @airbnb’s help, we’re hosting you and a friend at Wanda's home this year," he shared on X, the platform formerly known as Twitter.
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Jamal and Wanda have a lot of fans, and many have commented on how heartwarming their friendship is.
"You both are the Mariah Carey of Thanksgiving ❤️," one person wrote on Instagram.
Another added that Jamal's update is "My favorite annual IG post!"
Of course, meeting a stranger via text then going to their house is risky. Luckily, it worked out well for Grandma Wanda and Jamal, and in 2016, Grandma Wanda said that they immediately "clicked." Her friendship with Jamal has also changed her perspective.
Through her friendship with Jamal, Wanda realized that she can relate to people and even become friends with them in spite of age gaps. "When Jamal came along, my husband and I and him and his girlfriend, we would go out to dinner throughout the year together and we would just lose all track of time. One time, we were at a restaurant for three or four hours and I couldn’t believe we were there that long. We kept talking! It was just such a wonderful conversation," she shared with Today.
She now makes more of an effort to get to know people that she previously thought she wouldn't really relate to because of their age.
“That’s when it dawned on me that there doesn’t have to be a generation gap to have friendships. So now I look at a lot of young people in a different light than I used to and I make it a point to talk and get to know them,” Wanda continued.
They even found a way to meet for Thanksgiving at the height of the COVID-19 pandemic in 2020. Unfortunately, Wanda's husband died from COVID-19 complications earlier that year. At the time, Jamal used social media to show his support. Their fifth Thanksgiving picture showed them holding a framed picture of Wanda's late husband.
"How it started How it’s going," Jamal wrote on Instagram in 2020. "Like I said on Twitter this Thanksgiving along with all the holidays coming up aren’t going to be the same as past ones but we will make the best of it. Rest In Peace to Lonnie and everyone else we lost this year we will miss you greatly. Thank you for being in our lives.❤️"
On their Airbnb listing for this year's Thanksgiving gathering, Wanda and Jamal say that they're "practically family" now.
"Our unexpected friendship may have started accidentally, but our love for meeting new people has kept it going strong almost a decade later. That’s why this year, we’re expanding our annual tradition and inviting new guests to spend Thanksgiving with us at Wanda’s home – because that’s what grandma’s do: feed everyone," the listing says.
