I first saw the story of the teen accidentally invited to Thanksgiving a couple of years ago on the Book of Face. According to this USAToday article they are keeping the tradition going.

What started as a text to a wrong number has led to years of friendship and shared Thanksgiving meals for Jamal Hinton and Wanda Dench, a holiday tradition born from a happy mistake that’s gone viral every year since.

In 2016, Dench sent a text to a number she believed belonged to her grandson to invite him to Thanksgiving dinner at her home in Mesa, Arizona. Turns out, she accidentally texted Hinton, a complete stranger at the time.

Hinton asked who the number was and when Dench sent a photo of herself to him, he replied, “You not my grandma. Can I still get a plate tho?”

“Of course. That’s what grandma’s do … feed everyone,” Dench replied.

Since that text mixup, Hinton has received an invitation to celebrate the holiday with Dench’s family every year.

It was a very tearful to see last year’s picture, as Dench’s husband had passed. Yet this story gives my optimism a shot in the arm. These small acts of kindness, these small acts of family building, are what make humans human.

I look forward to seeing how the tradition continues.