An erroneous text linked Jamal Hinton and Wanda Dench. Today, they have become one of America’s favorite Thanksgiving traditions.

Wanda Dench and Jamal Hinton met at the crossroads of a bad act and a bold invitation. A decade later, they still celebrate Thanksgiving together and their unlikely friendship continues to inspire them.

It all started with a text Dench wanted to send to one of his six grandchildren, inviting them to Thanksgiving dinner in 2016.

Then Hinton, a 17-year-old high school student, opened the text, skeptical that it came from his own grandmother, who wasn’t very tech-savvy. He asked for a photo, and when Dench sent him a selfie – clearly not his grandmother’s – he responded with his own selfie and a cheeky question.

When Hinton asked if he could still have a plate for Thanksgiving, Dench didn’t hesitate. She suggested that he sit at her family’s table. After all, what are grandmothers for?

The exchange went viral, and when Americans learned that Hinton had actually spent Thanksgiving with Dench and his family, they ate it up.

“My grandchildren used to tease me that we should take away Grandma’s technology, because she doesn’t know how to use it properly,” Dench said, “But it wasn’t my fault! It was my grandson who changed his phone number, and Jamal ended up with that.”

Internet users quickly nicknamed Dench “Thanksgiving Grandma.”

But this wasn’t a one-off viral hit. Since then, the couple has celebrated every Thanksgiving side by side, with the exception of last year, when Dench was battling breast cancer. While she was going through treatment last year, Hinton FaceTimed her for a virtual Thanksgiving celebration.

Catching up with the couple has become an annual good news story. For a decade now, the couple have made headlines for their quirky friendship, which has seen them navigate love, loss and plenty of pumpkin pie.

From the start, audiences were hungry for their own place at the table. Jamal said that when he stopped by Wanda’s house on the first day of Thanksgiving, he could barely find a parking space with all the reporters and camera crews who had driven in for the day.

“We couldn’t eat without someone asking us a question. It was crazy, but it was still amazing. It’s a beautiful house, a beautiful family,” Hinton said, remembering how Dench’s late husband, Lonnie, would ask her question after question about her life. The cameramen may have wanted a photo op, but Lonnie couldn’t wait to really get to know their new guest.

Dench’s homemade dinner was a success. Hinton said he wasn’t really a pumpkin pie fan until he tried his own.

“I’m all about dessert,” Dench said.

At the time, America was changing.

Donald Trump had just defeated Hilary Clinton in the 2016 election. The Black Lives Matter movement gained momentum as hundreds of people marched in the streets to protest police brutality. The Chicago Cubs won their first World Series in over 100 years and Taylor Swift feuded with Kanye West.

The country has seen significant changes since then, as have Hinton and Dench.

Dench remembered something her husband said to her after coming home from a night job about a year before he died of complications from Covid-19 in 2020.

“He woke me up and he said he had a message from God for me,” Dench said. “He said, ‘God isn’t done with you and Jamal yet.’ » He explained to his wife that America needed healing and that both were used as tools to help heal the country.

“I didn’t quite understand what he was saying at the time, but I took it to heart,” Dench said.

Reading the comments about how their story touched people each year has been a joy, she said.

“I didn’t mean to. I didn’t do it on purpose. It’s just a blessing,” she added.

As the world grappled with loss and uncertainty related to the coronavirus pandemic and Dench grieved the loss of her husband, Hinton was there to provide support.

The first Thanksgiving celebration without Lonnie in 2020 was a small gathering, with a few close family members and Hinton. Dench said it helps to be with family, with good food and good support.

“We had a plate placed on our dining room table with a candle representing my husband’s spiritual presence,” she said. “And then every year after that, it got easier.”

Together, they have kept old traditions alive, like coming together around the table every year to share what they are grateful for. Dench said his answer is the same every year: his family – which now includes Hinton.

They also created new traditions. A few Thanksgivings ago, they stayed up until 2 a.m. playing board games. Now, games are as much a part of their annual tradition as turkey.

But the unlikely duo’s chance kinship now extends well beyond late November.

When Dench was ready to get her first tattoo, she called Hinton to ask where to go. He did better and accompanied her to the appointment.

She was given three shooting stars to represent her late husband, mother and father.

“It was really exciting. It was fun,” Dench said.

Hinton, now 26, says he’s come a long way from the self-proclaimed know-it-all he was at 17, when he and Dench first met.

“I feel like I know very little about the world, and I’m just open and willing to listen and learn from anyone now,” he said.

Hinton now works as a business owner and sales manager, but he is most proud of his role as a youth basketball coach: “I never imagined myself being a coach. »

This year, it’s Hinton’s turn to host. They will celebrate at her aunt’s house in Phoenix, and Dench, who is in much better health, will be there. She said she can’t wait to meet Hinton’s family for the first time and thank them for raising such a wonderful person.

“Growing up, my favorite times were Thanksgiving, because I knew my whole family was coming to my grandmother’s house and I was going to see all my cousins, my aunts, my uncles,” Hinton told CNN on Wednesday. He was going to Dench’s house to prepare a surprise that the two had prepared for their families this year – even though they didn’t want to give it away in advance.

This year, their celebration is sponsored by Green Giant, a brand of canned and frozen vegetables that will prepare their dinner. Hinton once again abandoned cooking, Dench noted.

“I think it’s one of my challenges now to not cook every year,” Hinton joked.

Dench says she could never have imagined that a message sent to the wrong number would end in major media interviews and a brand sponsorship. The two even have a Netflix film about their friendship in the works.

Dench and Hinton said they’re not sure why people are so attached to their story.

“The only thing I can imagine is that our friendship is genuine. It’s not fake,” Dench said. “If all the media disappeared and all the hype disappeared, we would still get together for Thanksgiving every year. »