Ariz. Strangers unite for Thanksgiving after accidental text

When Arizona's grandmother, Wanda Dench, accidentally invited the teenager Jamal Hinton to Thanksgiving dinner in 2016, she did not know that she would be passing strangers to enjoy her family.

It all started when Dench wanted to send his vacation plans to his 24-year-old grandson – but he had recently changed his number. Dench sent a message to Hinton, who was 17 at the time.

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Despite the accident, Dench still welcomed Hinton home and they have now made Thanksgiving a tradition.

Hinton participated in a third Thanksgiving this year and posted on Twitter a series of photos of the selfies he has made with Dench over the years.

"2016, 2017 … 2018", he wrote, completed by a sweet emoji.

"It was so unexpected, but she was so nice with that," Hinton told Dench's GENS, who promised to invite him. "It reminded me that there are still some good people in this world."

Jamal Hinton (center) with Wanda Dench (right) in 2016

Tom Tingle / The Republic of Arizona via AP

The unlikely friends have kept in touch even when it's not Thanksgiving.

"She sent me some gift cards for Christmas," Hinton said last year. "She also talked about my high school diploma and we kept in touch here and there."

RELATED: Grandma Accidentally Strangely Texts Her Thanksgiving Plans – Invites Him Anyway!

Hinton also invited his girlfriend, who started the ball with Dench at the last Thanksgiving party, to dinner this year for the second time in a row.

Wanda Dench and Jamal Hinton (center)

Jamal Hinton

"I just clicked when I met him and talked to him for the first time," Dench told NBC News in 2016.

"I thought, 'Oh, my God, I want to get to know this guy,'" she said. "It gives me a lot of faith in humanity because a lot of people have been nice."

Last year, after their first Thanksgiving meeting, Dench told the Arizona Republic"For him to continue in this relationship, I am really pleasantly surprised. We are more members of the extended family and, better still, friends. "