The tradition started in 2016 with an unintentional SMS message.

An unintentional text message sparked a Thanksgiving tradition that is now in its sixth year.

Jamal Hinton verified on Instagram Tuesday that he will spend Thanksgiving with Wanda Dench, who mistook Hinton for her grandson when she texted him in 2016 to invite him to Thanksgiving.

Hinton captioned a photo of herself standing next to Dench outside The Cheesecake Factory, “To address all your queries, yes, Thanksgiving Year 7 is planned out!” “See you on Thursday!”

When Hinton, a high school student at the time, got Dench’s text in 2016 with details about her family’s Thanksgiving preparations, he reacted by requesting a photo to clarify if the communication was from his own grandma.

The photo was of a woman with blonde hair and spectacles, not Hinton’s grandmother.

Hinton responded with a laughing emoji, “[You’re] not my grandma.”

Hinton then responded with a selfie to inform Dench that he was not her grandson and asked if he might still stop by for dinner.

“Of course, you can,” Dench answered. Grandmas do that… feed everyone.”

Hinton shared a photo of himself and Dench celebrating Thanksgiving with Dench’s husband, Lonnie Dench, and the interaction quickly went viral.

Since that 2016 text conversation, Hinton and Dench have spent every Thanksgiving together.

Every year, Hinton shares a photo of himself and his “second family” celebrating Thanksgiving together.

Even when Lonnie Dench died in April 2020 from COVID-19 problems, the families continued the custom.

In addition, Netflix revealed last year that Hinton and Dench’s narrative would be adapted into a feature film.

The movie, called “The Thanksgiving Text,” will tell the true story of how Wanda and Jamal built a strong relationship despite coming from very different backgrounds, according to a streaming site.

“We are thrilled to tell our tale to the rest of the world.” “We hope it motivates more people to reach out and create relationships they would not have made otherwise,” Hinton and Dench said in a statement released by Netflix. “We are extremely grateful to God for bringing us together through a misplaced text message.”