Photo: X/Twitter
A viral Thanksgiving tradition is set to continue for its tenth year.
Last week, Jamal Hinton, 26, took to Instagram to announce his plans to spend Thanksgiving with "Grandma" Wanda Dench, 68, for the 10th consecutive year. The pair is celebrating the decade-long tradition with a new partnership with Green Giant for the company's 100th anniversary.
“Ten Thanksgivings ago, a simple text brought us together. This year, we’re celebrating a decade of friendship,” Hinton wrote on Instagram, announcing the collaboration.
“I am so grateful we’re able to continue to get together. I can’t believe it’s been 10 years since that mistaken text,” Dench said in a statement. “For us, the holidays are all about connections and making memories. Sharing our 10th year—alongside Green Giant’s 100th anniversary—makes this year feel especially meaningful.”
The beloved friendship between the two began in 2016, when Dench texted Hinton by accident, believing his number belonged to her grandson. The exchange went viral after Hinton asked if he could still get a Thanksgiving plate, and Dench welcomed him to her holiday celebration.
The two continued the tradition even through the pandemic in 2020 and when Dench's husband, Lonnie, died of COVID-19. Last year's Thanksgiving celebration came after Dench revealed she was diagnosed with breast cancer.
“I felt like almost since the first year we were a family,” Hinton told NBC News last year. “I feel like if I’d never met her, I’d have a piece of me missing in a weird way.”
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