Grandma spends Thanksgiving with teen she accidentally invited by text

PHOENIX, Ariz. — An Arizona teen mistakenly invited to a stranger's Thanksgiving dinner by text attended the feast after all, praising the kindly grandmother for honoring the erroneous invite.

“She welcomed me into her house, so that shows me how great of a person she is,” Jamal Hinton, 17, told ABC15 Arizona in Mesa. “I’m thankful for people like that.”

Jamal was offered a seat at Wanda Dench's table for Thanksgiving when she thought she was texting her grandson and his girlfriend.

"Let me know if you are coming," the text to Jamal read. "Hope to see you all."

Jamal responded by asking for a photo to confirm if it was his own grandmother behind the text.

The picture came in of a woman with blonde hair and glasses -- not Jamal's grandma.

"[You're] not my grandma," Jamal replied with a laughing emoji.

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He then sent back a selfie to let her know he was not her grandson.

But even though it was a mistake, Dench upheld the invite and Jamal happily accepted.

"That's what grandmas do ... feed everyone," she wrote.

Jamal shared the sweet encounter on his Twitter page. And yesterday, Jamal and his family enjoyed dinner with Dench and her family.

Jamal shared a Thanksgiving day photo of him and Dench on his Twitter page. The selfie was retweeted 37,000 times.

Good Morning America contributed to this report

Cox Media Group