MESA, AZ (AZFamily) — What began as a mistaken text message has blossomed into a 10-year Thanksgiving tradition that continues to capture hearts worldwide.

Jamal Hinton and Wanda Dench are celebrating their tenth consecutive Thanksgiving together, a friendship that started in 2016 when Dench accidentally texted the then-17-year-old Hinton, thinking she was inviting her grandson to dinner.

“There are no accidents. It was meant to be,” Dench said.

The mix-up occurred when Dench sent a Thanksgiving dinner invitation to the wrong phone number. When Hinton responded asking who was texting, Dench replied it was grandma.

“I get this text back saying who is this and I said its grandma and the next message was well send me a picture,” Dench said.

Friendship grows through life’s challenges

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