In November 2016, American Jamal Hinton, who was 17 years old, received a message by mistake on his mobile.
It was Wanda Dench, who thought she was inviting her grandson for Thanksgiving dinner.
First, Hinton asked who she was, then they exchanged a couple of
selfies
and confirmed they weren't related.
However, Hinton did not waste the opportunity: "Can I still have a plate [for Thanksgiving dinner]?"
Dench's response couldn't have been more encouraging: “Sure it is.
That's what grandmothers do… They feed everyone ”.
Since then, each year, Hinton (now 21) and Dench (63) meet as a family to celebrate one of the most important dates on the American calendar.
Generally, he goes from Phoenix, Arizona, to neighboring Mesa, which is about 30 minutes away, where Dench lives.
The only exception so far was last year's celebration at the home of Hinton's girlfriend Mikaela Grubbs.
Somebody grandma is coming in clutch this year !!
Ayee !!!
pic.twitter.com/QGrx83nHLl
- Jamal Hinton (@ Jamalhinton12) November 15, 2016
The story was published on networks and the media and the participants always share photos of their encounters on Twitter.
Wanda Dench even has her own article on the
KnowYourMeme
database of memes
, where she is known as
Thanksgiving Grandma
.
This was their fifth Thanksgiving together.
This time, however, there was a gap in the table.
Lonnie Dench, Wanda's husband, passed away in April from complications from covid-19.
As the
Washington Post
explains
, the Denchs caught coronavirus and Lonnie, who also developed pneumonia as one of the consequences of the virus, did not survive.
In the United States, the pandemic has already cost the lives of more than 263,000 people, according to data from Johns Hopkins University.
5 years strong!
Happy Thanksgiving everyone❤️❤️❤️ pic.twitter.com/mHNEkEKLvA
- Jamal Hinton (@ Jamalhinton12) November 26, 2020
As reported by
CNN
, the Denchs (Wanda, her daughter and her grandson) decided to celebrate Thanksgiving dinner last Friday, November 20 with Hinton and his girlfriend.
So they had time to get tested for covid before meeting with their respective families for this day, which was celebrated on Thursday 26. In a statement for this medium, Dench confessed that "I did not really want because Lonnie was not going to be there. The last seven months have been very difficult, but this has been very important to me. "
"At first it was sad," Hinton added. "We had a picture of Lonnie on the table with a lit candle and we were all nervous, but after five minutes we were ourselves again."
This unusual relationship has been maintained in recent years.
As
The New York Times
explains
, the two couples often met for lunch, as Dench recalls.
Of these encounters, for Hinton, the memories remain: “I always remember Lonnie looking on the bright side of things.
He would have liked us to celebrate his life instead of hating the covid and hating everything. "
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