The viral grandma who invites the wrong grandson to Thanksgiving every year honors her husband, who died of COVID-19 this year.
What We Know:
- In 2016 Wanda Dench and Jamal Hinton went viral for Wanda’s text conversation accidentally inviting Hinton to Thanksgiving dinner. Wanda honored the invitation despite asking the wrong person. The text message conversation went viral after the two spent Thanksgiving together. They have spent every Thanksgiving together since 2016.
- Wanda and husband Lonnie both experienced COVID-19 symptoms earlier in the year. Wanda, fortunately, got better, but Lonnie did not. A day after Lonnie’s admission into the hospital, he passed away in April of 2020.
I am so sad to announce that Wanda and Lonnie both have COVID-19 and that Lonnie is currently in the hospital fighting both COVID and Pneumonia please send words of love and encouragement their way 💛🙏🏽 pic.twitter.com/tUNpUB20qg
— Jamal Hinton (@Jamalhinton12) April 2, 2020
- Jamal announced in a tweet Lonnie’s condition. “I am so sad to announce that Wanda and Lonnie both have COVID-19 and that Lonnie is currently in the hospital fighting both COVID and Pneumonia, please send words of love and encouragement their way”. After Lonnie’s passing, both #RIPLonnie and #Lonnie trended on Twitter.
- Wanda shared with the Arizona family her response to the support, “I was overwhelmed. I did not expect that at all. I did look up in the heavens, and I said you did it, honey, you got a lot of people interested in you”.
- Accidental grandson Jamal Hinton and girlfriend gifted Wanda a USB with videos of people worldwide giving their good wishes.
While Thanksgiving this year may be different for the family, Jamal and Wanda plan to honor Lonnie by keeping a chair for him.
