Grandma has become extremely popular after inviting the wrong teen to Thanksgiving since 2016

Three years ago an Arizona grandmother sent a message inviting the wrong person to Thanksgiving dinner, and it changed both their lives.

In 2016 Wanda Dench sent her grandson an invitation to Thanksgiving dinner through a text message - to the wrong number.

She struck up a conversation with the young man who received the message, Jamal Hinton who was then 16, and even after the mistaken identity was cleared up, she still invited him to dinner, reported Daily Mail on November 23, 2018.

Since then, Jamal has been spending Thanksgiving with Wanda and her family.

AN ACCIDENTAL MESSAGE CREATED A LASTING BOND

Wanda had accidentally sent a Thanksgiving dinner invitation to Jamal, thinking he was her grandchild. When the mistake was cleared up, Jamal asked if he could still come for dinner - and Wanda said "Yes!"

Jamal showed up for the turkey fest and had such a wonderful time with the Denches that his yearly visit on Thanksgiving has become a family tradition.

She struck up a conversation with the young man who received the message, Jamal Hinton who was then 16, and even after the mistaken identity was cleared up, she still invited him to dinner.

JAMAL POSTED A VIDEO OF HIS THANKSGIVING DINNER

Jamal who is now 19, posted a tribute to their annual Thanksgiving date on Twitter and shared three photographs - one from each of the holidays they spent together. He captioned his post: "2016, 2017...2018..." He promised he would post a video of the dinner.

"We got to laugh about last year and reminisce about how it all blew up on our phone and how I had to change my number. We had a laugh and a good time."

WANDA "ADOPTED" JAMAL AS AN HONORARY GRANDSON

Wanda considers Jamal her 'honorary grandson' since the 2016 mix-up and the teenager is equally fond of the kindly Arizona grandmother, who has become a close friend and a confidant.

When Jamal shared the hilarious blunder on Twitter in 2016, users were delighted by Dench's sweetness, and the original post was shared more than 200,000 times.

To many people, these two very different people are the essence of what Thanksgiving is all about and many commented that the Pilgrims had also been strangers to the Native Americans who saved them from starvation on the very first Thanksgiving.

Read more on Twitter Amomama USA.

HOW NATIVE AMERICANS VIEW THANKSGIVING

Most Americans celebrate Thanksgiving Day with roast turkey, delicious treats and their family. But for some Native Americans Thanksgiving is observed as a National Day of Mourning.

For the last 49 years, the United American Indians of New England - a group of Native Americans - gathers in Plymouth, Massachusetts, the Pilgrims first settlement on the continent.

Rather than remember a welcoming feast, Native Americans recalled the disease, racism, and oppression that the European settlers brought with them. For the Native Americans, their ancestors' generosity and kindness were not met with thankfulness, but with ingratitude and violence.