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30th Nov 2024

Grandma who invites stranger to Thanksgiving dinner every year issues heartbreaking update

Nina McLaughlin

Their Thanksgiving looked a bit different this year

The internet’s favourite grandma and stranger duo have issued a heartbreaking update as their Thanksgiving plans looked a little different to usual this year.

Back in 2016, Arizona grandmother Wanda Dench accidentally sent a text to who she thought was her grandson, however, it turns out that she had sent it to a teenager, Jamal Hinton, by mistake.

Nevertheless, rather than backtrack out of any embarrassment or awkwardness, she did what any true grandma would do and offered him a seat around the table of her family home. They’ve been friends ever since.

Jamal shared the story online, and, unsurprisingly, it turned into quite the new story over in America, being covered by multiple outlets over the years as they continued to share a Thanksgiving plate with each other’s families.

The pair have spent every Thanksgiving together since, with Jamal being there during tough times such as when Wanda’s husband Lonnie died back in 2020.

However, earlier this year, Wanda issued an update via Jamal’s social media, and revealed that she had been diagnosed with breast cancer.

As a result of her undergoing treatment, Wanda is immunocompromised, meaning the pair have had to spend their first Thanksgiving apart since 2016.

“I was looking so forward to meeting his family and having turkey with everybody, but we have to accept things the way they are, and I’m sure next year is going to be so much better,” she wrote.

The pair did still use the holiday to catch up. They spoke to each other on an Instagram Live, sharing their conversation with the world.