\n Wanda Dench and Jamal Hinton met at the intersection of a wrong number<\/a> and a bold invitation. A decade later, they\u2019re still celebrating Thanksgiving together and their unlikely friendship continues to inspire.\n <\/p>\n \n It started with a text Dench meant to send to one of her six grandchildren, inviting them to Thanksgiving dinner in 2016.\n <\/p>\n \n Then a 17-year-old high school senior, Hinton opened the text, skeptical it could have come from his own grandmother, who was not all that technologically savvy. He asked for a photo, and when Dench sent him a selfie \u2013 clearly not of his grandma \u2013 he replied with a selfie of his own and a cheeky question.\n <\/p>\n \n When Hinton asked if he could still have a Thanksgiving plate, Dench didn\u2019t hesitate. She offered him a seat at her family table. After all, what are grandmothers for?\n <\/p>\n \n The exchange went viral, and when Americans heard Hinton had, in fact, spent that Thanksgiving with Dench and her family, they ate it up.\n <\/p>\n \n \u201cMy grandkids were teasing me that \u2018we should take technology away from grandma, because she doesn\u2019t know how to use it properly,\u2019\u201d Dench said, \u201cBut it wasn\u2019t my fault! My grandson was the one who changed his phone number, and Jamal ended up with it.\u201d\n <\/p>\n \n The internet masses quickly dubbed Dench \u201cThanksgiving Grandma.\u201d\n <\/p>\n \n But this was no one-time viral stunt. The pair has since celebrated every Thanksgiving side by side, save for last year, when Dench was battling breast cancer<\/a>. As she powered through treatment last year, Hinton FaceTimed her for a virtual Thanksgiving celebration.\n <\/p>\n \n Catching up with the pair has become an annual good news story. For a decade now, the pair has made headlines for their quirky friendship, which has seen them through love, loss and many pumpkin pies.\n <\/p>\n \n The public was hungry for their own seat at the table, right from the start. Jamal said when he pulled up to Wanda\u2019s house that first Thanksgiving, he could barely find a parking spot with all the reporters and camera crews who had driven in for the day.\n <\/p>\n \n \u201cWe couldn\u2019t eat without someone asking us a question. It was crazy, but it was still amazing. It\u2019s a beautiful home, a beautiful family,\u201d Hinton said, recalling how Dench\u2019s late husband, Lonnie, asked him question after question about his life. The cameramen may have wanted a photo opp, but Lonnie was eager to really get to know their new guest.\n <\/p>\n \n Dench\u2019s homemade dinner was a hit. Hinton said he wasn\u2019t much of a pumpkin pie person until he tried hers.\n <\/p>\n \n \u201cI\u2019m all about the dessert,\u201d Dench said.\n <\/p>\n \n Back then, America was changing.\n <\/p>\n \n Donald Trump had just defeated Hilary Clinton in the 2016 election. The Black Lives Matter movement gained momentum as hundreds marched through the streets<\/a> to protest police brutality. The Chicago Cubs<\/a> won their first World Series in more than 100 years, and Taylor Swift feuded with Kanye West.\n <\/p>\n \n The nation has seen significant changes since then, and so have Hinton and Dench.\n <\/p>\n \n Dench recalled something her husband told her after coming home from a night shift about a year before he died of complications from Covid-19<\/a> in 2020.\n <\/p>\n \n \u201cHe woke me up, and he said he had a message for me from God,\u201d Dench said. \u201cHe said, \u2018God\u2019s not done with you and Jamal yet.\u2019\u201d He explained to his wife that America needed healing, and the two were being used as tools to help heal the country.\n <\/p>\n \n \u201cI didn\u2019t quite understand what he was saying at the time, but I took it to heart,\u201d said Dench.\n <\/p>\n \n Reading the comments about how their story has touched people each year has been a joy, she said.\n <\/p>\n \n \u201cI didn\u2019t intend it. I didn\u2019t do it on purpose. It\u2019s just a blessing,\u201d she added.\n <\/p>\n \n As the world grappled with the loss and uncertainty of the coronavirus pandemic, and Dench mourned the loss of her husband, Hinton was there to lend his support.\n <\/p>\n \n The first Thanksgiving celebration without Lonnie in 2020 was a small gathering, with a few close family members and Hinton. Dench said it helped to be around family, with good food and good support.\n <\/p>\n \n \u201cWe had placed a plate on our dining room table with a candle representing my husband being there in spirit,\u201d she said. \u201cAnd then every year after that, it got easier.\u201d\n <\/p>\n \n Together they\u2019ve kept alive old traditions, like going around the table each year to share what they\u2019re thankful for. Dench said her answer is the same every year: Her family \u2013 which now includes Hinton.\n <\/p>\n \n They\u2019ve 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.\n <\/p>\n \n But the unlikely duo\u2019s fortuitous kinship now extends far beyond late November.\n <\/p>\n \n When Dench was ready to get her first tattoo, she called Hinton to ask for a recommendation on where to go. He did one better and accompanied her to the appointment.\n <\/p>\n \n She got three shooting stars to represent her late husband, mother and father.\n <\/p>\n \n \u201cIt was really exciting. That was fun,\u201d Dench said.\n <\/p>\n \n Hinton, now 26, says he\u2019s come a long way from the self-described know-it-all he was at 17, when he and Dench first met.\n <\/p>\n \n \u201cI feel like I know very little in the world, and I\u2019m just open and willing to listen and learn from anyone now,\u201d he said.\n <\/p>\n \n Hinton now works as a business owner and sales director, but he\u2019s most proud of his role as a youth basketball coach: \u201cI never envisioned myself being the coach.\u201d\n <\/p>\n \n This year, it\u2019s Hinton\u2019s turn to host. They\u2019ll be celebrating at his aunt\u2019s home in Phoenix, and Dench, who is in much better health, will be in attendance. She said she\u2019s eager to meet Hinton\u2019s family for the first time and thank them for raising such a wonderful person.\n <\/p>\n \n \u201cGrowing up, my favorite moments were on Thanksgiving, because I knew that my whole family was coming over to my grandmother\u2019s house, and I was gonna see all my cousins, my aunts, my uncles,\u201d Hinton told CNN on Wednesday. He was heading over to Dench\u2019s house to prepare a surprise the two have up their sleeves for their families this year \u2013 though they didn\u2019t want to give it away beforehand.\n <\/p>\n \n Their celebration this year is sponsored by Green Giant, a canned and frozen vegetables brand that will be catering their dinner. Hinton got out of cooking once again, Dench noted.\n <\/p>\n \n \u201cI think it\u2019s a challenge of mine now to somehow not cook every year,\u201d Hinton joked.\n <\/p>\n \n Dench says she could never have imagined a text to the wrong number would end with major media interviews and a brand sponsorship. The two even have a Netflix film about their friendship in the works.\n <\/p>\n \n Dench and Hinton said they aren\u2019t quite sure why people have become so attached to their story.\n <\/p>\n \n \u201cThe only thing I can imagine is, our friendship is genuine. It\u2019s not fake,\u201d Dench said. \u201cIf all the media went away, and all the hoopla went away, we would still meet together for Thanksgiving every year.\u201d\n <\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n Wanda Dench and Jamal Hinton met at the intersection of a wrong number and a bold invitation. A decade later, they\u2019re still celebrating Thanksgiving together and their unlikely friendship continues to inspire. It started with a text Dench meant to send to one of her six grandchildren, inviting them to Thanksgiving dinner in 2016. 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