Wanda Dench knows Thanksgiving is a time meant to be surrounded by loved ones.
And although the 67-year-old—who became known online as the “Thanksgiving Grandma” after she invited then-stranger Jamal Hinton to her holiday dinner thinking it was her grandson—lost her husband Lonnie Dench in April 2020 due to COVID-19, she is hopeful to have a special someone for next year’s meal.
“I don’t like being alone, and I miss my husband,” Wanda told The Arizona Republic in an interview published Nov. 26. “I wish he was still here, but that’s not reality.”
The Arizonan—who revealed in October, through a post to Jamal’s X (formerly Twitter) account, that she is undergoing chemotherapy for breast cancer—started tuning into The Golden Bachelor in 2023, which inspired her to give love another chance.
“[The show] gave me hope that I could start dating, and maybe find a second love,” Wanda continued. “And it would not be the same, but it would still be genuine.”
