An unexpected friendship that blossomed from a Thanksgiving text mishap is set to continue its cherished holiday tradition for the tenth year.
In 2016, Wanda Dench, 68, and Jamal Hinton, 26, from Arizona, formed an enduring connection after Dench mistakenly sent a Thanksgiving invitation to Hinton, believing he was her grandson. This serendipitous error forged a friendship that significantly impacted both of their lives.
Last year, Dench was not able to join the Thanksgiving gathering in person due to her breast cancer treatment. However, this year, she and Hinton will once again celebrate together at his family home.
Their annual gatherings have become an online sensation. This year, they’ve teamed up with Green Giant to commemorate both the company’s centennial and their ten-year friendship anniversary.
Green Giant is supplying traditional holiday fare such as turkey, mashed potatoes, gravy, green bean casserole, rolls, and pumpkin pie. Meanwhile, Jamal’s family is contributing prime rib, brisket, and mac and cheese to add their unique flavor to the feast. Hinton shared photos on Instagram of their meal preparations, captioning them with, “Thanksgiving prep is in full swing.”
Now cancer-free, Dench is delighted to continue the tradition that began with a single viral message.
Their story started when Dench texted what she thought was her grandson to ask if he was coming to Thanksgiving dinner.
The message reached Hinton instead, who jokingly replied: ‘Still get a plate tho?’ Dench answered without hesitation: ‘Of course you can. That’s what grandmas do – feed everyone.’
Wanda Dench, 68, and Jamal Hinton, 26, became unlikely friends in 2016 after a mistaken Thanksgiving text. They are pictured together ahead of Thanksgiving 2025
The pair will reunite this year at Hinton’s family home after missing last year’s celebration as Dench was undergoing breast cancer treatment
In 2024, the pair had to meet online instead of in person after Dench was diagnosed with cancer
Hinton showed up for dinner that year, and the pair hugged immediately. From then on, they spent every Thanksgiving together – except for 2024, when Dench’s cancer treatment left her immunocompromised.
That year, they connected via Instagram Live as Hinton passed his phone around to family members wishing her a happy holiday.
‘I just recently finished up with chemotherapy, so I’m not 100 percent yet,’ Dench said during the livestream as she answered viewers questions.
‘And I live about two hours away from where Jamal lives. And so we decided that this year would be best for my health if I stayed at home.
‘I was looking so forward to meeting his family and having turkey with everybody, but we have to accept things the way they are, and I’m sure next year is going to be so much better.’
Hinton explained how she discovered her cancer following a routine checkup.
‘I had a CT scan to check out my lungs. That’s when a mass in my breast was detected,’ she said.
‘I am [and] have been currently going through chemotherapy. My family and friends quickly came to my aid and have supported me through everything.’
Dench also added that cancer does not run in her family and that all of her previous mammograms had come back as negative.
They became unlikely friends after she texted him and invited him to Thanksgiving in 2016
Hinton ended up going to Dench’s celebration, and he had continued to do so
Dench, who in a previous interview claimed she wasn’t a fan of Thanksgiving, previously admitted that she had actually wanted to cancel their holiday dinner in 2016, but the universe had other plans
Hinton’s girlfriend, Mikaela, also spends Thanksgiving with them, and they both became close to Dench’s husband, Lonnie, who died of COVID in April 2020
For Dench’s first Thanksgiving without her husband in 2020, she hosted an early dinner attended by Hinton and Mikaela, as well as her daughter and her grandson
She said when she turned 65 in 2022 she assumed she would not have to get them anymore, adding: ‘But I was wrong’.
Dench added that she has learned ‘a lot of life’s lessons through it all’, stressing that ‘just because you may be older, you still have a life to live.’
Speaking to Today in 2021, Hinton shared that he was surprised when Dench said he could join her family’s celebrations, but he decided to roll with it.
‘Yes, there was a huge amount of hesitation because it was all just a joke,’ he recalled. ‘I was in math class. I was taking a test. And I was just like, ‘Hey, why not?’
‘I’m just an outgoing person. I like to meet new people and then she said, ‘Yes,’ and I was just starstruck, basically.’
Ironically, Dench isn’t a fan of Thanksgiving, and she admitted on the morning show she had actually wanted to cancel their holiday plans that year.
‘I was tired of putting on the feast every year, so I asked my husband if we could just skip Thanksgiving that year and go off and have a mini-vacation or something,’ she said. ‘But little did I know that’s not what the universe had planned for me.’
Dench and Hinton plan regular visits year-round, and during the pandemic, he and his girlfriend, Mikaela, would leave her food outside her door.
Hinton was just 17 when Dench accidentally sent him a text message thinking he was her grandson in 2016
Hinton explained that she had texted the wrong person, but he then asked if he could ‘still get a plate tho?’ They spent Thanksgiving together for the first time that year
In December 2021, just a week after they spent their sixth holiday together, it was announced that a movie inspired by their story was in development at Netflix
‘I told her the cameras and the fame, everything could stop tomorrow, and nothing’s changing between us,’ Hinton previously told the Today show. ‘He’s in my heart for life,’ Dench agreed
In 2023 the duo teamed up with Airbnb to invite two strangers to their annual Thanksgiving celebration
It was a difficult time for the widow, who lost her beloved husband, Lonnie, to COVID-19 on April 5, 2020, just days after he contracted the virus.
For her first Thanksgiving without her husband, she hosted an early dinner attended by Hinton and Mikaela, as well as her daughter and her grandson.
A framed photo of Lonnie was placed on the dinner table as they paid tribute to him during the gathering.
During an appearance on the Today show, Dench shared how Hinton taught her how to be ‘open to friendships [even] when you think you have nothing in common when somebody.’
‘He’s literally changed my life,’ she said.
‘It’s amazing to have her as a friend and as my family,’ Hinton added.
