In 2016, Wanda Dench texted a number she thought belonged to her grandson and invited him to attend a Thanksgiving dinner at her home.
But that message ended up being sent to then-17-year-old Jamal Hinton instead, resulting in a conversation which would unknowingly spark a new Thanksgiving tradition and, more importantly, a wonderful friendship.
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Hinton was a high school senior when he first got a text message from an unknown number claiming to be his grandmother.
After some initial confusion, the pair eventually figured out what had happened. Unbeknownst to her, Dench’s grandson had actually changed his phone number, and Hinton ended up with his original number — and his Thanksgiving invitation.
Now that the mistake had been cleared up, Hinton had just one question for Dench: could he still come over for dinner?
Her response: “Of course you can. That’s what grandma’s [sic] do…feed everyone.”
That first meal they shared together has since become an annual Thanksgiving tradition lasting four years in a row now.
Every year, Hinton makes sure to update his eager followers on Twitter with sweet photos of himself, his girlfriend Mikaela, Dench, and her husband Lonnie, enjoying a delicious meal together.
But sadly, Thanksgiving 2020 would see one less plate set at the table for this tight crew.
In April, Lonnie tragically passed away after battling both pneumonia and the novel coronavirus.
Hinton shared the heartbreaking news on Twitter where he wrote that prior to his death, “all the love and support [Lonnie] was receiving put a huge smile on his face.”
Hinton later updated his followers to tell them that Wanda herself was not infected with the virus.
Last week, Hinton and Mikaela once again appeared at Dench’s home for their fifth year in a row of Thanksgiving celebrations.
But this year, the absence of Dench’s beloved husband Lonnie was impossible to ignore.
“I wasn’t looking forward to it at first because Lonnie wasn’t going to be there,” Dench told CNN . “The past seven months have been so difficult, but this was really important to me.”
Dench, her daughter, and her grandson (the one the original text was meant for), sat down with Hinton and Mikaela for dinner.
The crew decided to eat dinner on Friday so they could have enough time to get tested for the virus before eating with other family.
Rather than let themselves grieve the loss of Lonnie, the small group decided to celebrate him and honor his life. As 21-year-old Hinton told CNN,
“At first it was sad. We had a photo of Lonnie at the table with a candle lit, and we were all shaky in the beginning but it lasted five minutes before we were back to ourselves. We just told jokes and stories and shared our memories of Lonnie, so it was amazing.”
While the group still had a wonderful meal together, Hinton admitted this year was certainly different from all the others.
“Lonnie was missing this year, and he was a big part of the Thanksgiving story and a big part of our lives, but that’s one thing Wanda and I know for sure,” he said. “Lonnie would have been very angry if we didn’t have Thanksgiving together.”
Dench added, “I can’t even explain how much joy I had, having good food with my favorite company. We laughed, we had a great time, we reminisced about the past. It was so good for all of us.”
h/t: CNN
