In 2016, Wanda Dench from Mesa, Arizona, accidentally sent a text message to Jamal Hinton inviting him to Thanksgiving dinner.
Wanda thought she was texting her grandson. But Hinton, who was 17 at the time, decided to accept Dench's invitation and he has continued to sit down at the Dench table every year since.
Hinton, who is now 22, took to Twitter this week to confirm that their annual Thanksgiving dinner was still on and included a screenshot of Dench's text message inviting him, his girlfriend Mikaela, and his family. He also shared a photo of himself, Mikaela, Dench, and Dench's husband Lonnie, who died from COVID-19 in April 2020.
Last year, Dench and Hinton shared an early Thanksgiving meal at her home, where they paid tribute to her late spouse.
The unlikely pals became public figures after Dench's accidental 2016 invitation went viral. Hinton replied that she had texted the wrong person, but jokingly asked if he could "still get a plate tho?"
"Of course you can, that's what grandmas do, feed everyone" Dench replied.