--- description: Jamal Hinton, 17, and Wanda Dench, a Phoenix-area grandma, had never met before Thanksgiving but the pair embraced the spirit of the holiday title: Grandma Keeps Promise to Have Thanksgiving With Teen She Accidentally Invited image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltde093bcdab65f2d0/6988d9b9bc6cfc69913e2a3c/time-logo.jpg?branch=production --- * [Newsfeed](/tag/time-section-newsfeed/) ## Newsfeed Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close # Grandma Keeps Promise to Have Thanksgiving With Teen She Accidentally Invited  by [Justin Worland](/author/justin-worland/)  ## Justin Worland Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close Senior Correspondent Nov 25, 2016 9:23 PM CUT  by [Justin Worland](/author/justin-worland/)  ## Justin Worland Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close Senior Correspondent Nov 25, 2016 9:23 PM CUT Jamal Hinton, 17, and Wanda Dench, a Phoenix-area grandma, had never met before Thanksgiving but the pair embraced the spirit of the holiday this week with Dench welcoming Hinton to her family. Hinton’s invitation to the dinner at first [came entirely by accident](http://time.com/4576345/grandma-thanksgiving-stranger-text/ "undefined") when Dench texted the 17-year-old meaning to text her own grandson. The two exchanged a few messages before a selfie revealed that Hinton had the wrong number. Nonetheless, the grandma did not revoke the invitation when Hinton asked if he could still come. “Of course you can,” she said. “That’s what grandmas do…feed everyone!” The story quickly exploded on the internet after Hinton [posted](https://twitter.com/RonaldDoee/status/798614847063814148?ref%5Fsrc=twsrc%5Etfw "undefined") a screenshot of their exchange on Twitter. “We feel like it was fate that this occurred during such a rough time and right before Thanksgiving,” Wanda’s daughter, Lisa Dench, [told](http://www.azcentral.com/story/news/local/mesa/2016/11/24/grandmother-accidental-invite-teen-thanksgiving-arizona/94404048/ "undefined") the _Arizona Republic_. > [](https://twitter.com/RonaldDoee/status/798614847063814148) Hinton showed up with a pumpkin pie. ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/4582411/grandma-thanksgiving-invite/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/4582411/grandma-thanksgiving-invite/"},"headline":"Grandma Keeps Promise to Have Thanksgiving With Teen She Accidentally Invited","datePublished":"2016-11-25T21:23:14.000Z","dateModified":"2026-04-13T07:38:56.877Z","description":"Jamal Hinton and Wanda Dench had never met before their Thanksgiving meal","url":"https://time.com/4582411/grandma-thanksgiving-invite/","keywords":["Newsfeed","Holidays"],"thumbnailUrl":"","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"Justin Worland","jobTitle":"Senior Correspondent","url":"https://time.com/author/justin-worland/"}],"articleSection":"","image":[],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Time","url":"https://time.com/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://time.com/images/logo.png","width":528,"height":156},"foundingDate":"March 3, 1923","sameAs":["https://www.facebook.com/time","https://www.instagram.com/time/?hl=en","https://twitter.com/time","https://www.pinterest.com/timemagazine"]}},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"item":{"@id":"/tag/time-section-newsfeed/","name":"Newsfeed"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/4582411/grandma-thanksgiving-invite/","name":"Grandma Keeps Promise to Have Thanksgiving With Teen She Accidentally Invited"}}]}] ```