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The internet’s viral “Thanksgiving Grandma” served a turkey dinner earlier this year – and with her husband, who died of COVID-19, absent from the table.
However, Wanda Dench welcomed for a fourth year her accidental “grandson”, Jamal Hinton, the young stranger who is now like family thanks to his famous failed text.
Dench rose to fame in 2016, after accidentally sending Hinton, then 17, an invitation to Thanksgiving dinner – along with a text message she intended to send to her grandson.
Realizing his mistake, Dench and her husband, Lonnie, told the teenager to come anyway – and he did, that year and every year since.
Dench and Hinton, now 21, recently had a Thanksgiving dinner at his Mesa, Arizona home, CBS reported.
They remembered Lonnie Dench and talked about their four-year friendship.
“It’s going to be different, my first Thanksgiving without him,” Dench told The New York Times.
“My husband was always right behind me, telling me how proud he was of Jamal and me for what we did.
This year, the couple placed a framed photo of Lonnie on the table and set a plate aside for him to honor her during their annual tradition.
Hinton tweeted in April that his adoptive grandparents were battling the coronavirus. He later tweeted that Lonnie dropped by away from the virus.
“As some of you may have already found out tonight, Lonnie didn’t make it … he passed away on Sunday morning,” Hinton tweeted at the time.
“But Wanda told me that all the love and support he was receiving made him smile so much so I thank each of you for that!”
Despite the loss and grief, Dench and Hinton said they were happy to talk to each other.
“I’m just grateful that we’re here, we’re together,” Hinton told The Times.
“I don’t know what I would do for the holidays this year, last year or years before if I didn’t have Wanda in my life, so I’m just thankful.
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