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This wonderful story caused the internet to work overtime when it went viral in 2016. Wanda Dench was texting her son to invite him to Thanksgiving dinner. But his number had changed and a total stranger, Jamal Hinton, received it. He did not know Wanda but asked if he could still come over for a plate and she said "of course." They've been getting together every year since.
“Everyone everywhere I go people ask how Wanda is doing and how often I see her,” Hinton said.
Hinton tweeted that Dench had once again reached out to him this year to keep the tradition going. 2021 marks the sixth year of the get-together.
The pair's celebration last year was more somber than the rest: It was the first year the get-together would have an empty seat at the table. Wanda’s husband Lonnie was one of the 21,653 Arizonans who lost their lives to COVID-19. “It will be very sad… but with friends and family around it will be OK,” Wanda said through tears. But Jamal was there to help lift Wanda’s spirits. “I think of the memories we have," Hinton said.
Wanda has waited for COVID-19 mandates to allow for friends and family to come to say goodbye.
Here is the original story: