Last Thanksgiving, amidst the hustle and bustle of planning her family’s feasting frenzy, one grandma’s text message to the wrong teenager sent Twitter into a frenzy of its own.
18-year-old Jamal Hinton was accidentally looped into a family group chat about Thanksgiving plans last fall including “Amanda & Justin.”
Jamal Hinton
The Phoenix teen quickly realized he was not meant to be a recipient, but decided to respond anyway, curious as to whose family plans he’d been accidentally included in on.
Jamal Hinton
When the woman identified herself as “grandma,” Jamal thought it might actually be his grandma. Confused, he asked the woman, who we now know is named Wanda, to send a photo.
Jamal Hinton
Jamal laughed and responded with his own selfie to assure “Your Grandma” that she’d reached out to the wrong grandson. But not before requesting a seat at the table with Justin and Amanda!
Jamal Hinton
Wanda’s sassy response was that of an experienced grandmother:
“Of course you can. That’s what grandma’s do…feed everyone,” she wrote, with some skilled emoji usage to boot!
Jamal tweeted the interaction, which went viral last Thanksgiving, and people fell in love with the chance friendship that brought two strangers together for the holidays.
Throughout the year, Jamal and Wanda have kept in touch.
“She contacts me a lot,” Jamal says. “As a grandma would. She’s very sweet.”
So you can imagine the excitement that ensued across Twitter when Jamal tweeted a photo of him and Wanda together again for Thanksgiving this year!
2016-2017 thanksgiving pic.twitter.com/CpIgr9KapA
— Jamal Hinton (@kingjamal08) November 24, 2017
It rapidly went viral.
The 18-year-old, Wanda and the rest of her family came together for the Thanksgiving feast, and Jamal—who works as a butcher—even carved the turkey.
Though they talk often, Jamal says he and Wanda don’t actually see each other much. Still, he hopes to see her and the family for Christmas.
