TODAY -- Pictured: Thanksgiving 2022 on Thursday, November 17, 2022 -- (Photo by: Nathan Congleton/NBC via Getty Images)
Jamal Hinton and Wanda Dench are going on year eight of a tradition they stumbled into! In 2016, Dench mistakenly texted Hinton a Thanksgiving invite.
After establishing he wasn’t her grandson, Dench still extended the invite to Jamal. He came that year and has been visiting with Wanda every Thanksgiving holiday since.
This year, they have a special surprise for fans of their story. According to PEOPLE, the pair partnered with Airbnb to add two more guests to their Thanksgiving dinner table. Wanda Dench has opened up her Prescott, Arizona, home on the rental app for a one-day stay.
“I think it is perfect,” Hinton told the outlet about the partnership. “I mean, me personally, I love meeting new people and building new friendships.”
Jamal has clearly proven his love for new relationships! The mistaken text didn’t discourage him; instead, it prompted him to join Dench’s family for the holiday.
When Dench’s husband, Lonnie Dench, experienced complications from COVID-19 in 2020, Hinton gave the public updates. In April of that year, Lonnie passed away.
To this day, they spend time together, and it’s not just on Thanksgiving. According to PEOPLE, they have a “strong bond” that includes visits to the pumpkin patch, watching the Super Bowl together, and partnering for a game show.
In 2021, Variety reported that Netflix was working on a movie based on Jamal and Wanda’s story. It was set to be named “The Thanksgiving Text,” with Adbul Williams as the writer.
Wanda tells the outlet their friendship was an unlikely connection.
“Once I got to know Jamal, for me, it was just an unlikely friendship,” Wanda said. “And it wasn’t because of race, and it wasn’t because of religion. We’re both different religions and all [kinds] of different in every way, except it was just a soul to a soul [connection].”
The Airbnb booking option will be available on Airbnb starting November 14. It will be restricted to a one-night stay of Nov. 20 and priced at $16. The price reflects the year Jamal Hinton and Wanda met and had their first Thanksgiving dinner.
