Arizona pair celebrates decade of friendship that began with mistaken textual content

MESA, AZ (AZFamily) — What started as a mistaken textual content message has blossomed right into a 10-year Thanksgiving custom that continues to seize hearts worldwide.

Jamal Hinton and Wanda Dench are celebrating their tenth consecutive Thanksgiving collectively, a friendship that began in 2016 when Dench by chance texted the then-17-year-old Hinton, considering she was inviting her grandson to dinner.

“There are no accidents. It was meant to be,” Dench stated.

The mix-up occurred when Dench despatched a Thanksgiving dinner invitation to the mistaken cellphone quantity. When Hinton responded asking who was texting, Dench replied it was grandma.

“I get this text back saying who is this and I said its grandma and the next message was well send me a picture,” Dench stated.

Friendship grows by way of life’s challenges

What might have been a forgettable mistake reworked into an annual reunion. The pair have supported one another by way of vital life occasions, together with the loss of life of Dench’s husband in 2020 and her breast most cancers analysis and remedy final yr.

“We just all clicked. It was amazing. We spent hours talking. There was no generation gap. It was just fun and joyful and exciting,” Dench stated.

“I love it to spend thanksgiving with so many different types of people,” Hinton stated.

The friendship has supplied mutual help throughout tough instances.

“I was able to talk with Jamal and he’s always given me encouragement and I’ve been very blessed,” Dench stated.

“It feels like a best friend. She feels like someone you can talk to about anything. So when you go through anything I call her all the time. She answers her phone,” Hinton stated.

Both think about one another household now.

“Jamal will always be in my inner circle of family,” Dench stated.

“Family she’s family no matter what,” Hinton stated.

This yr’s celebration was sponsored by Green Giant.

Last yr, the pair met nearly whereas Dench was battling most cancers, making this yr’s in-person reunion significantly significant.

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