When a grandmother accidentally invited a stranger to Thanksgiving dinner, little did she know that it would mark the beginning of a beautiful friendship. Wanda Dench, 67, and Jamal Hinton, 25, from Arizona, formed an unexpected bond in 2016 after a mistaken text message.
Initially, Wanda thought she was inviting her grandson to dinner, but the message reached Jamal instead. Despite the mix-up, they decided to meet up and even spent nine consecutive holidays together, celebrating Thanksgiving as if they were long-lost family members.
But in a heartbreaking post to social media in October, Dench explained she had been diagnosed with breast cancer after coming down with bronchitis.
The treatment has left Dench immunocompromised meaning the pair were unable to meet up as they have done since 2016.
However, this year proved to be different as Wanda battles cancer, making it the first time in almost a decade that they couldn’t spend the holiday together. Despite the physical distance, their hearts remain connected through their enduring friendship and shared memories.
‘I just recently finished up with chemotherapy, so I’m not 100 percent yet,’ Dench explained as she answered viewers questions.
‘And I live about two hours away from where Jamal lives. And so we decided that this year would be best for my health if I stayed at home.
‘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.’
Hinton explained how she discovered her cancer following a routine checkup.
‘I had a CT scan to check out my lungs. That’s when a mass in my breast was detected,’ she said.
‘I am [and] have been currently going through chemotherapy. My family and friends quickly came to my aid and have supported me through everything.’
Dench also added that cancer does not run in her family and that all of her previous mammograms had come back as negative.
She how when she turned 65 in 2022 she assumed she would not have to get them anymore, adding: ‘But I was wrong’.
Dench added that she has learned ‘a lot of life’s lessons through it all’, stressing that ‘just because you may be older, you still have a life to live.’
Hinton and Dench’s chance meeting happened after she texted him to ask him if he was coming to Thanksgiving dinner at her house, thinking she was reaching out to her grandson.
They pair soon realized that she had texted the wrong person, but Hinton, who was 17 at the time, jokingly asked if he could ‘still get a plate tho?’
‘Of course you can, that’s what grandmas do, feed everyone’, Dench quickly replied.
When Hinton showed up for dinner that year, she hugged him immediately, and until this year the pair had spent every Thanksgiving together since.
Speaking to Today in 2021, Hinton shared that he was surprised when Dench said he could join her family’s celebrations, but he decided to roll with it.
‘Yes, there was a huge amount of hesitation because it was all just a joke,’ he recalled. ‘I was in math class. I was taking a test. And I was just like, ‘Hey, why not?’
‘I’m just an outgoing person. I like to meet new people and then she said, ‘Yes,’ and I was just starstruck, basically.’
Ironically, Dench isn’t a fan of Thanksgiving, and she admitted on the morning show she had actually wanted to cancel their holiday plans that year.
‘I was tired of putting on the feast every year, so I asked my husband if we could just skip Thanksgiving that year and go off and have a mini-vacation or something,’ she said. ‘But little did I know that’s not what the universe had planned for me.’
Dench and Hinton plan regular visits year-round, and during the pandemic, he and his girlfriend, Mikaela, would leave her food outside her door.
It was a difficult time for the widow, who lost her beloved husband, Lonnie, to COVID-19 on April 5, 2020, just days after he contracted the virus.
For her first Thanksgiving without her husband, she hosted an early dinner attended by Hinton and Mikaela, as well as her daughter and her grandson.
A framed photo of Lonnie was placed on the dinner table as they paid tribute to him during the gathering.
In December 2021, just a week after they spent their sixth holiday together, it was announced that a movie inspired by their story was in development at Netflix.
Although the film has yet to drop, the streamer says the movie will highlight their deep friendship, despite their differences, and their unlikely connection, all thanks to the text mix-up.
‘I told her the cameras and the fame, everything could stop tomorrow, and nothing’s changing between us,’ Hinton said during a 2021 interview.
‘Absolutely,’ Dench agreed. ‘He’s in my heart for life.’
When Hinton started a new car painting and tinting business, he put Dench on his advertising billboard.
He was also there for her when she got her first tattoo, vowing that they would get ‘matching tattoos next.’
‘I’ve always told her whatever I’m doing, she’s a part of, no matter what it is,’ he said.
In 2022, Hinton and Dench announced they had become business partners with the launch of their mineral water company, BlackMP.
They also teamed up to compete for $250,000 as contestants on the TBS game show The Cube.
During an appearance on the Today show, Dench shared how Hinton taught her how to be ‘open to friendships [even] when you think you have nothing in common when somebody.’
‘He’s literally changed my life,’ she said.
‘It’s amazing to have her as a friend and as my family,’ Hinton added.
