The Wholesome Story of the Woman Who Invited a Total Stranger to Thanksgiving

So, who are the people at the center of this holiday tale? Well, Wanda Dench was a 59-year-old grandmother when this story began back in 2016. She lived in Mesa, Arizona in the United States along with her husband, Lonnie.

Before that, Wanda resided in a variety of states, including Idaho and Colorado. The Dench family is comprised of three children in total, along with six grandchildren and two great-grandchildren. Both Wanda and Lonnie have been praised for their kind hearts and friendly attitudes.

The other main character in our wholesome Thanksgiving story is Jamal Hinton. Back in 2016 when this story begins, Jamal was still in high school. Jamal was in his senior year when he first heard from Wanda Dench.

Jamal also hails from Arizona, though he lives in the state’s capital, Phoenix. Jamal is in a relationship with Mikaela Grubbs, who he met in high school. He has aspirations of becoming a sports agent and has recently started his own business.

Now that we’ve met Wanda and Jamal, we can get into the details of how they came into each other’s lives. Basically, Jamal was at work one day when he received a text message from an unknown number. The message included details of a Thanksgiving dinner, along with the time and place for the meal.

Naturally, Jamal was confused by this random message. Now, we know it was from Wanda Dench. But at the time, she was from a complete stranger.

Understandably, teenage Jamal replied to this message asking who it was from. Wanda, presumably also confused, responded by saying it was his grandma. Ever the savvy teen, Jamal wasn’t willing to accept this. So, he asked the unknown messenger for a picture as proof that she was indeed his grandma.

Adorably, Wanda didn’t really understand this request. However, after a few back-and-forth messages over text, she eventually did send over a selfie of her face while she was at work.

This picture shows the selfies that Wanda and Jamal sent each other on that fateful day back in 2016. Wanda sent this smiling selfie, and Jamal replied with a picture of half of his face. Hilariously, he noted that Wanda was in fact not his grandma.

But, what happened next is what changed their lives for the better. Jamal cheekily asked Wanda if he could still get a plate at her Thanksgiving dinner. He also tweeted the exchange, and the story quickly went viral.

Wanda, pictured here with her husband Lonnie, decided to stick by her original message. When Jamal asked if he could still get a plate at the holiday meal, she responded saying, “Of course you can. That’s what grandmas do… feed everyone.”

If Jamal hadn’t asked for a plate, and Wanda hadn’t extended her invitation, then this digital mishap would have ended then and there. Thankfully – for them and us – both parties decided to go all in with their accidental communication.

Before we get any further, you may be interested in who this message was actually for in the first place. As we’ve mentioned, Wanda and Lonnie Dench are grandparents to six grandchildren. Wanda’s original message was supposed to be for her grandson Justin and his girlfriend Amanda (pictured).

It turns out that Justin had changed his phone number, which is why Wanda’s text ended up in Jamal’s inbox. We assume that Justin eventually received his invite and joined his family for Thanksgiving dinner.

So far, we’ve seen Wanda Dench send a text message to the wrong person to which Jamal Hinton responds jokingly. However, these two actually stood by their decision to meet up on Thanksgiving. In November 2016, Jamal Hinton posted this picture on Twitter, along with the caption, “So this just happened.”

It’s amazing that these two followed through with their plans to spend the holidays together. Jamal showed up at Wanda’s house and shared a meal with her family. Understandably, social media went wild for the story.

Both Jamal and Wanda liked each other when they first met on Thanksgiving. Jamal has said, “It was so unexpected, but she was just so sweet about it […] she is a very sweet lady.” He added, “I just got a vibe from her that made me feel at home.”

Likewise, Wanda enjoyed meeting Jamal for the first time. She said, “I just clicked when I met him and first talked to him, I thought, ‘Oh my gosh, I want to get to know this guy.’”

Incredibly, this random holiday get-together wasn’t a one-off. Wanda gave Jamal an open invitation for all future Thanksgiving dinners. Since then, the pair have spent every Thanksgiving with one another. What started as a text message sent to the wrong number has blossomed into a lasting bond between a young man and a grandmother.

Jamal has shared this text message from Wanda on his social media. Clearly, the pair actually had a great time together and were excited to meet up again.

Adorably, Wanda Dench now refers to Jamal Hinton as her “honorary grandson.” When the pair met up again, they got to chat about how their story had gone viral and brought them both lots of online attention.

Speaking about Thanksgiving 2017, Wanda said, “It was nice having everybody here, we got to laugh about last year and reminisce about how it all blew up on our phone and how I had to change my number. We had a laugh and a good time.”

Jamal has also reflected on his time spent with Wanda. He has said, “The world is becoming a better place than it used to be […] it’s kind of good to remember the Thanksgiving traditions and see there are still good people out there.”

Indeed, in a world that is at times filled with tension and bad news stories, this wholesome Thanksgiving tale reaffirms our hope in random acts of kindness. The openness between these two has since led to a lasting and meaningful connection.

Since their first chance interaction, Jamal and Wanda have spent every single Thanksgiving together. In 2018, Jamal posted a picture of the pair together, along with the caption, “2016, 2017…… 2018.” Jamal has also filmed and shared videos that he’s made at Wanda’s house for fans to watch online.

As you can see in this text message from Wanda, the Thanksgiving invitation has also been extended to Jamal’s girlfriend and family. Because of one wrong text message, multiple families are now entwined together.

As we’ve seen, Jamal Hinton first shared this story way back when he originally got Wanda’s text invitation to Thanksgiving dinner. The story quickly picked up steam, especially when he actually went to her house to spend the holidays with Wanda and her family.

Now, it’s a yearly tradition for social media users to check in with the unlikely friends. Jamal shares the story on his Twitter, YouTube, and Instagram accounts. Plus, the pair have been interviewed by major and local news outlets.

Every year, Jamal shares his cherished time with Wanda on his social media channels. That way, the story is kept alive for another year, bringing joy to new onlookers. The unlikely friends always make sure to take a selfie, and pose with other loved ones for a holiday photograph.

This means that both Jamal and Wanda have a host of pictures to remember their Thanksgiving get-togethers. What started as a random interaction between two strangers is now a documented relationship between two friends.

Interestingly, Jamal and Wanda have even opened up their yearly Thanksgiving meal to the public. In 2020, Jamal posted this picture on his Instagram account, showing the pair standing with a brand new PS5.

As you can see in the caption, Jamal and Wanda were raffling the gaming console along with a personal invite to their Thanksgiving meal. We don’t know who the lucky winner was, or if they attended. However, we know that we’d prefer a seat at the table over a PS5!

For Jamal and Wanda, friendship isn’t just about Thanksgiving. The friends have actually spent time together outside of the holiday, along with their partners. In 2020, Jamal shared some videos of Wanda, Lonnie, himself, and Mikaela visiting a pumpkin patch. In these pictures taken from the videos, you can see everyone smiling while clutching a pumpkin – and kettle corn for Wanda.

The videos also showed the friends exchanging gifts. In his post, Jamal wrote that “hopefully” the content would “bring some happiness” to people’s social media feeds.

And these friends don’t just meet up in the fall. The couples have also been on double dates together. On one occasion, Wanda, Lonnie, Jamal, and Mikaela sat in a barbecue restaurant for four whole hours! Wanda reported that the group talked about “everything imaginable.”

Wanda said that during this particular meal, everyone chatted about their lives and jobs, as well as their favorite music and movies. In fact, they even speculated about life on other planets. Clearly, these people aren’t just friends for social media.

In the time since Jamal Hinton and Wanda Dench first met, the new friends have been there for each other through tough times. When Wanda’s husband Lonnie passed away in 2020, Jamal and his girlfriend Mikaela were there to support and comfort Wanda.

At that year’s Thanksgiving meal, they placed a photograph of Lonnie and a candle at his place at the table. Jamal also brought along a flash drive filled with positive messages from online well-wishers. This gave Wanda a huge amount of comfort in her time of need.

But, the friends have been there for each other through good times as well. In 2022, Jamal Hinton posted this picture to his social media channels. In his caption, he wrote, “I’m very proud to announce the opening of my new car wrapping, painting, and tinting company Wrap-A-Lot in which I am CEO!!!”

In a tweet, Wanda wrote back, “I’m so proud of you Jamal for starting your new business. I know you will have great success because of your integrity and work ethics.”

Clearly, the age gap between these new friends hasn’t been a big deal to anyone involved. Jamal has reflected on this, saying, “After meeting her the first time I just knew, she’s another person, age is really just a number.”

He continued, “It doesn’t matter, you can be friends with anybody, you can be family with anybody.” There are definitely great benefits to socializing with people in different age groups. Everyone can learn from each other, regardless of what generation they’re in.

It’s heartwarming to see the relationship that developed between these two couples. In this tweet from 2019, Wanda and Lonnie Dench pose in sweatshirts gifted to them by Jamal and Mikaela. In another social media post, Jamal shared that he and Mikaela helped the Dench family set up their new phones.

Afterwards, Lonnie excitedly texted and called Jamal to confirm that his phone was working. This wholesome story is a testament to the idea that friendship can come from unlikely places at any time in life.

In an interview, Wanda Dench reiterated this belief. Speaking about her childhood, Wanda has said, “We moved around a lot so I was always going to new places. And so strangers were not strangers to me.”

In a Thanksgiving video posted in 2018, Wanda stated that “family is more than blood.” She elaborated that “it’s the people you want to be with and you just feel good with.” Clearly, this means that Jamal and Mikaela are now part of the Dench family.

Even though Jamal and Wanda now spend every Thanksgiving together, it’s not always at the Dench residence. In fact, in 2019, they spent the day with Mikaela’s family. Looking back on that year’s holiday, Wanda has said that it was her favorite. She claimed, “Gosh it was just a whirlwind of fun.”

On other occasions, Jamal and Wanda have gotten together to enjoy watching a basketball game together. Wanda posted this picture on her Twitter account along with the caption, “Go Rams!!!”

While Jamal documents his new friendship with Wanda on social media, she keeps a physical binder of their memories together. In the binder, Wanda has the pair’s initial text message, as well as all the press that she and Jamal have done together.

Their story has been covered by a huge range of outlets — including Huffpost, CNN, CBS, People, and Buzzfeed. Because of all the press around the story, Wanda has also become a meme. She’s known as “Thanksgiving Grandma.”

Shockingly, this wholesome Thanksgiving story might never have happened at all. In a 2021 interview, Wanda revealed that in 2016, she had considered not having a Thanksgiving meal at all.

In the interview, she recalled, “I asked my husband if we could just skip Thanksgiving that year and go off and have a mini vacation or something. But little did I know, that’s not what the universe had planned for me.” Thankfully for everyone involved, Wanda went ahead and planned a meal, and sent that fateful text.

Both Wanda Dench and Jamal Hinton consider their original 2016 text exchange as an act of fate. Since first connecting, they have both been a valuable source of joy and support for each other.

Jamal has said of their friendship, “I’m just grateful that we are here, we are together. I don’t know what I would be doing for the holidays this year, last year or years before if I didn’t have Wanda in my life, so I’m just grateful.”

Jamal and Wanda’s friendship isn’t just important to them during the holiday season. As we’ve seen, the pair are there for each other in their times of need.

Jamal has commented that “this story has been amazing from the start to the finish. It actually helps me get through the year sometimes to see so many uplifting comments, to see so many people looking forward to our story that I just love it all.” It’s refreshing that this story also inspires other people that are following along online.

In a new twist in this wholesome tale, Wanda and Jamal’s story will now be told to an even bigger audience. At the end of 2021, Jamal posted this tweet sharing that he and Wanda are bringing their story to Netflix.

In a joint statement, Jamal and Wanda said, “We are excited to share our story with the world. We hope it inspires more people to reach out and make connections that they wouldn’t ordinarily make. We are so blessed to find a genuine friendship.”

This heartwarming viral story will be made into a movie fittingly named The Thanksgiving Text. The feel-good film is currently in development and will be written by Abdul Williams, and executive produced by Lawrence Mott. It’s likely that production will get underway soon.

So far, Netflix hasn’t revealed any information about who will direct or star in the movie. We’ll be eagerly anticipating the cast announcement. Meanwhile, Jamal and Wanda have just spent their sixth Thanksgiving in a row together.