Text sent to wrong number creates decade-long Arizona Thanksgiving friendship
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Sometimes the best connections happen by chance, and for one Arizona couple, that chance turned into another Thanksgiving together. This year will be the 10th.
Wanda Dench wanted to invite her grandson to a Thanksgiving celebration in 2016. Instead, he accidentally texted Phoenix’s Jamal Hinton.
The pair realized the mistake after he sent a photo confirmation of himself, to which Hinton responded: “[You’re] Not my grandma,” and adds a laughing emoji.
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Hinton added a selfie to confirm the number was wrong, but Dench still asked if she could stop by for dinner.
The story went viral on social media, and even now their annual tradition continues to capture the hearts of Americans across the country.
Wanda Dench and Jamal Hinton are celebrating their 10th Thanksgiving together. (Green Giant® Vegetables)
Dench and Hinton told Fox News Digital how their chance Thanksgiving invite turned into a decade-long friendship and how they’re celebrating their 10th holiday together.
“I remember it like it was yesterday because it was exciting, fun and completely unexpected. [in terms of] “The result was that we were surrounded by the entire media,” Dench said. “Meeting Jamal was the best thing ever and I say that with all my heart. It’s true.”
Their unlikely friendship continued to be a source of strength.
Hinton said that meeting Dench changed his life. “I remember it like it was yesterday, my senior year [of high school]. I was already like a popular kid. [and] I became like a super popular kid.”
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He added, “But for me, the story has been a blessing from day one.”
Despite Hinton leaving Arizona and now moving to Florida, as well as Dench losing her husband and being diagnosed with breast cancer, their unlikely friendship has remained a source of strength.
This year is going to be extra special as Dench says she is now officially cancer-free.
“Meeting Jamal was the best thing ever, and I say that with all my heart. It’s true,” Dench said. (Thomas Ingersoll)
“I was a little surprised when I was diagnosed because [breast cancer] “We don’t have it in our family or anything like that, and at my age, I don’t know, I thought I was over it, but obviously I’m not,” Dench said.
He said he wasn’t sure at first if he wanted to go public with his diagnosis. Still, he said his friends and family encouraged him to use his platform to spread awareness.
“I wanted to get the message out to all women, especially women in my age group, because when we get to my age, we think we’re past all the mammograms and stuff, but we’re not,” Dench said. “We still have one life to live.”
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Dench said Hinton encouraged her to share her diagnosis last October.
“Jamal says: ‘This is a good month to do this because it’s breast cancer awareness month.’ And that was in October last year.”
She added, joking: “I didn’t even know it was breast cancer awareness month and I felt like I should have known before then.”
Dench told Fox News Digital that she is now officially breast cancer free. (Thomas Ingersoll)
Dench said she always thought it was a sweet thing and was blessed by the support she received.
“I’m grateful to get this message out there,” he said. “I’ve gotten a lot of responses. Women are thanking me for saying this, and they’re telling their mothers or grandmothers about it too,” she said.
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“I liked that he said we have a story and it’s a good story that feels really good. And it comes out every year,” Hinton said.
This year Hinton will “host” Thanksgiving. The meal will be served in partnership with Green Giant to celebrate the company’s 100th anniversary.
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“There’s not a single thing on the menu that I don’t like,” Dench said.
