Bittersweet Thanksgiving 2020 For Grandma Who Accidentally Texted US Teen In 2016 For Dinner

'Remember, that every good friend was once a stranger.'- A quote that beautifully sums up this bittersweet story of Thanksgiving. A couple of texts to a wrong number is what it took for a beautiful friendship to blossom.

The incident happened four years ago, in 2016 when a grandmother in Arizona accidentally invited a stanger to her Thanksgiving dinner via text message. Ever since they've celebrated the holidays together.

This year in 2020, Wanda Dench (62) and Jamal Hinton (21) celebrated their fifth Thanksgiving together, on Friday in Mesa, Arizona, mentioned a report by CNN. Also, Hinton's girlfriend and Dench's daughter and grandson were present at the dinner.

Dench lost her husband due to COVID-19 complications, this year in April and she wan't looking forward to Thanksgiving dinner, but it turned out to be a good one and with her favourite company as they reminisced about the past, laughed together and had a great time. "I wasn't looking forward to it at first because Lonnie wasn't going to be there. The past seven months have been so difficult, but this was really important to me," Dench, told CNN.

Talking on the same lines, Hinton said, "At first it was sad. We had a photo of Lonnie at the table with a candlelit, and we were all shaky in the beginning but it lasted five minutes before we were back to ourselves. We just told jokes and stories and shared our memories of Lonnie, so it was amazing."

From Strangers To Family

Couple of texts to a wrong number and from stangers, they became friends and then family. According to a CNN report, a grandma of six, Dench wanted to text her grandson to invite him to her 2016 Thanksgiving dinner, but accidentally texted then 17-year-old Hinton while he was in class.

Eventhough in the beginning Hinton was confused about claiming to be his grandma had texted him followed by a smiling selfie of Dench at work. He soon realised that she wasn't his grandma, but he asked if he could still have a plate. To this she replied, "Of course you can," she replied. "That's what grandmas do ... feed everyone!"

This is how it began. Hinton showed up at Dench's home to share the meal and both of them immediately became good friends. Eventually, Hinton and his girlfriend began going on regular double dates with Dench and Lonnie, said the same report.

"It all has to do with this feeling. There's just this connection. It feels like we've known each other in past lives. There's absolutely no generational gap between us. The conversation just flows, we never run out of things to talk about," Dench told CNN.