Arizona grandma, man she mistakenly texted gather for Thanksgiving for 6th straight year

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Grandma and man she mistakenly invited to Thanksgiving dinner in 2015 continue tradition

It's a new holiday tradition of sorts that has been going six years strong. On Thanksgiving day, two strangers who were brought together by a mistakenly-sent text message reunited again for Thanksgiving. FOX 10's Bailey Miller reports

Thursday marked the sixth Thanksgiving for Jamal Hinton and Wanda Dench – the Arizona friends who met after a Turkey Day invite was accidentally sent to the wrong number over text message. 

"We are all set for year 6!" Hinton, 22, of Phoenix, tweeted along with a photo of himself, his girlfriend Mikaela and Dench, 64.

Hinton and Dench’s story first gained viral attention in 2016 when Hinton replied to Dench's Thanksgiving invite that was meant for her grandson. Now, the former strangers have been sharing the holiday ever since.

"It has been an amazing journey," Dench told Fox 10 Phoenix.

(FOX 10 Phoenix)

Hinton told the station, "She is an amazing person. She is the best."

Hinton realized Dench’s original text from 2016 was a mistake after Dench sent a photo of herself to confirm if whether she was Hinton’s actual grandmother.

"[You're] not my grandma," Jamal replied with a laughing emoji.

Hinton sent back a selfie so Dench knew he was not her grandson. He then asked if he could stop by for dinner anyway and Dench welcomed him with open arms. 

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Since their first exchange, Hinton tweets a photo of himself with Dench enjoying their annual Thanksgiving tradition together.

(FOX 10 Phoenix)

Last year, Hinton posted a video on YouTube documenting the 2020 dinner he and Mikaela shared with Dench – months after Dench’s husband Lonnie died from complications of COVID-19.

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"I want to say thank you to all of the people that sent their blessings and their condolences and their well wishes for me," Dench said in the video.

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"…It's still going to take a lot of time...but when I get visits from these guys, it really perks me up," she said.

Hinton shared this year's Thanksgiving photo on Twitter with the simple caption, "Thanksgiving 2021." Beside the new image was a picture from 2019 in which Lonnie appears.