The inevitable day arrived when Wanda Dench and her unofficially adopted grandson didn’t share their Thanksgiving together.
If you’re unfamiliar with Wanda and Jamal Hinton’s story, here’s a brief overview – it started in 2016 with an accidental text message.
Eight years ago, as Thanksgiving approached, Wanda sent a text to someone she believed was her grandson, inviting him to dinner and mentioning that ‘Amanda and Justin’ were also invited.
Amusingly, Jamal responded: “Who is those..”
“Your grandma,” Wanda replied.
They swapped selfies and a few more messages, leading Jamal to ask if he could still join her for dinner. Upon her agreement, it turned into a Thanksgiving tradition for the Dench family to welcome Jamal, who had initially been a stranger.
This past Thanksgiving would have marked their ninth together, but unfortunately, the 67-year-old was not in a position to host after she and Jamal shared the devastating news of her cancer diagnosis.
This year, they connected briefly via Instagram Live.
During their conversation on social media, Wanda explained why they were apart for the holiday: “I just recently finished up with chemotherapy, so I’m not 100 percent yet.
“And I live about two hours away from where Jamal lives. And so we decided that this year would be best for my health if I stayed at home.
“I was looking so forward to meeting his family and having turkey with everybody, but we have to accept things the way they are, and I’m sure next year is going to be so much better.”
Back in October, Jamal shared Wanda’s diagnosis through a series of images on Twitter.
The 25-year-old included screenshots of a statement she wrote using iPhone Notes.
He captioned the post: “Here is a special message from Wanda.”
Her ‘Notes’ read: “Hi, my name is Wanda, you might know how we met in 2016 when I accidentally sent him a text inviting him to Thanksgiving when I thought I sent it to my grandson.
“It went viral and it changed our life for the better and we still plan on getting together for Thanksgiving next month as we have every year.
“But what I want to let you know today is this month is Breast Cancer awareness month.”
She continued: “Earlier this year I came down with bronchitis and had a CT scan to check out my lungs. That’s when a mass in my breast was detected and they suggested I get a mammogram and that verified I had breast cancer.
“I am have been currently going through chemotherapy. Cancer does not run in my family and all the mammograms I had in the past were always negative.
“In 2022, I turned 65 years old and I thought I would have my last mammogram and not have to think about it again. But I was wrong.”
Wanda went on to describe the care she received at the Breast Cancer Center in Arizona and how her diagnosis has altered her perspective on life.
We send our best wishes to grandma Wanda Dench!