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For the first time in nine years, a grandma and a guy who became friends when she unintentionally invited him to a Thanksgiving dinner have spent the holidays apart.
In 2016, Arizonan Wanda Dench, then 65, texted what she believed to be her grandson’s number to invite him to the holiday; however, it was actually that of Jamal Hinton, who was 17 at the time.
Instead of ignoring the unidentified number, the two exchanged selfies. Jamal responded, “You’re not my grandma,” and then inquired as to whether he could still “get a plate” for the meal.
In response, the kind grandmother said: “You certainly can. Grandmas feed everyone, that’s what they do.
For eight years, the unplanned text served as the beginning of a treasured ritual and an unlikely friendship.
Things were a touch different for the couple this year because Dench had disclosed that she had received a breast cancer diagnosis.
She was diagnosed with bronchitis earlier this year, which led to her health issues. Unexpectedly, a tumor in her breast was discovered during a follow-up CT scan meant to examine her lungs.
Dench said in the statement posted on social media by Hinton, “That’s when a mass in my breast was detected and they suggested I get a mammogram and that confirmed I had breast cancer.”
The grandmother, who lost her husband Lonnie in 2020, was unable to join Hinton for their ninth annual meal because she had started chemotherapy.
Since I just underwent chemotherapy, I’m still not fully recovered. Additionally, Jamal lives around two hours distant from me. We thus determined that staying at home this year would be best for my health,” she stated, as reported by The Mirror.
“We’ll connect via FaceTime. Dench said, “I was really excited to meet his family and share turkey with everyone, but we have to accept things as they are. I’m sure next year will be so much better.”
Rather, the sweet pals got back together on Instagram Live.
Take a look at it below:
View this post on Instagram
In addition to winning over hearts across the nation, the special friendship won over Netflix executives, who in 2021 declared that a movie about Hinton and Dench will be released.
The streaming site stated that it will emphasize the text mix-up and the resulting lifelong friendship, even though the film, titled The Thanksgiving Text, has not yet been released.
“We hope it inspires more people to reach out and make connections that they wouldn’t ordinarily make,” the two stated in a statement released by Netflix at the time. “We are so blessed to find a genuine friendship brought together by God from a mistaken text message.”
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