A lady sent an SMS to an unfamiliar guy by accident. And this instance marked the start of a new tradition.

When Jamal Hilton, 18, of Arizona, got an invitation to a Thanksgiving meal from a stranger calling herself “grandma,” he requested that she provide a photo so he could figure out who he was conversing with. Wanda Dench, the mystery interlocutor, turned out to be a lady he had never met and who had invited him, assuming he was her grandson who had lately changed his phone number.

The matter was swiftly resolved, but Jamal still requested supper with Wanda, who consented promptly. “I thought meeting this lady would be good. “She appeared to be very nice to me,” Jamal adds. “I thought she was cool—that’s how she turned out to be in reality!”

Despite the appearance of a totally new person, the family meal went as smoothly as it could. With Jamal, everyone present instantly established a common language.
A year has passed, and Wanda and Jamal have maintained long-distance contact. The lady wished him a Merry Christmas and a Happy Graduation and spoke with him on social media.

And in November, the guy appeared again at a family holiday — yes, not alone, but with a girl and a pumpkin pie to boot.

“They immediately liked each other! Jamal recalls it with a laugh. I treat Wanda as a friend and as a grandmother. We’re always having fun, and she’s a great cook.” At this meeting, Jamal managed to talk with Wanda longer and learn more about her life. “We talked a lot with her about how we live and what we had to go through.”

The man shared images of his fatal encounter with Wanda on Twitter. Users responded favorably to the touching account of a chance encounter, with over two hundred thousand likes.

Jamal feels she can set a good example for others. “I hope that people will treat each other better,” he adds. “That they will treat others in the same way that they want to be treated.”