WATCH: Grandma who faked text message to teen on Thanksgiving to spend fourth holiday with him
For the eighth year in a row, Jamal Hinton and Wanda Dench are celebrating Thanksgiving again.
Hinton and Dench reunite for another heartwarming encounter after the two first met in 2016 via a misdirected text message from Dench inviting Hinton to Thanksgiving dinner.
This time, thanks to Airbnb, the two added a few more seats.
“Some may recognize us from our viral text mishap that led to our first Thanksgiving together in 2016. And eight years later, we are practically family,” her listing on the Airbnb website reads.
“To honor our longstanding friendship, we are excited to become Airbnb hosts and welcome new guests to our vacation tradition while creating meaningful connections,” the listing continued.
Jamal Hinton/Twitter
Thanks to Airbnb hosting them, Jamal Hinton and Wanda Dench met together for the eighth time on Thanksgiving.
Airbnb confirmed to “Good Morning America” that the Thanksgiving celebration took place on Monday, including an overnight stay with games, movies and storytelling. In honor of the meeting, Airbnb also said it would make a donation to Feeding America, the nonprofit organization dedicated to fighting hunger in the United States
The tradition began in 2016 when Hinton, then a senior in high school, received a text message from Dench originally intended for Dench’s grandson inviting him to Thanksgiving dinner.
Winston asked the author of the text for a picture, to which he received a selfie from Dench.
When Hinton realized the mistake, he texted Dench with a selfie of his own and two other messages: “You’re not my grandma” and “Can I still get a plate?”
MORE: Grandma and man she accidentally texted on Thanksgiving meet again for seventh year
Dench complied with the request and a tradition was born.
Jamal Hinton/Instagram
Wanda Dench and Jamal Hinton in a photo posted to Instagram on November 1, 2023 to celebrate the two celebrating their 8th Thanksgiving together after Dench accidentally texted Hinton.
Dench and Winston have spent every Thanksgiving together since their chance meeting in 2016, sharing photos and updates every year.
The friendship has also endured some grief. In 2020, amid the coronavirus pandemic, Dench shared that her husband, Lonnie Dench, died from the virus.
In 2021, Netflix announced the development of a feature film based on the chance friendship called The Thanksgiving Text.
MORE: Grandma and man who accidentally texted her reunite for 6th Thanksgiving
The streaming platform said the film will tell the true story and noted that a “deep friendship has developed” between Wanda and Jamal despite their very different backgrounds.
“We are excited to share our story with the world. We hope it inspires more people to reach out and make connections they wouldn’t normally make,” Hinton and Dench said in a statement shared by Netflix. “We are so blessed to find a real friendship that God brought together from a fake text message.”