One Arizona grandmother’s accidental text has turned out to be the gift that keeps on giving.
Since Wanda Dench’s serendipitous text to teenager Jamal Hinton, inviting him to Thanksgiving in 2016, the pair has turned her mistake into a sweet holiday tradition.
Hinton, 19, returned to Dench’s Mesa home on Thursday to share in a Thanksgiving meal for the third year with the 61-year-old’s family.
“She has great food,” Hinton said with a laugh in an interview with AZ Family CBS 5.
The pair captured the hearts of people everywhere in 2016 after Hinton publicly shared his text exchange with Dench, who thought she was messaging her grandson.
Dench realized she was inviting the wrong person over for Thanksgiving dinner when they exchanged selfies. But that didn’t stop her from encouraging the teen to come over anyway.
“That’s what [grandmas] do,” she wrote.
Clearly, the mixup was meant to be.
Dench told CBS this week that Hinton “is awesome.” As for the teenager, he expressed his excitement over “gaining a new grandma.”
The new family said they plan to keep the tradition going. Hinton, who brought his girlfriend Thursday, noted that he’d like to host Dench for a future Thanksgiving dinner.
“I’d like to retire from doing dinner and pass it over to the younger generation,” Dench said. “I’ll come and visit.”