YOU’RE WATCHING WPBF 25 NEWS AT 6:00 P.M. TODD: ONCE THEY WERETR SANGERS, NOW THEY’RE FAMILY. FOR THE PAST TWO DECADES, THESE TWO PEOPLE HAVE TALKED ON THE PHONE BUT THEY FINALLY MET IN PERSON FOR THE FIRST TIME OVER THE THANKSGIVING HOLAYID WEEKEND, SO IT TALL BEGAN WHEN A PALM BEACH COUNTY WOMAN DIALED THE WRONG NUMR.BE FELICIA: OUR GIANNA CASERTA SHARES THEIR STORY ALL NEW AT 6:00 P..M THE REPORR:TE GLADYS HAS SPENT THE LAST 20 YEARS CALLING THE WRONG NUMBER, A BEAUTIFUL MISTAKE THAT HAS TURNED INTO AN UNLIKELY FRIENDSHIP. ALL THOSE YEARS AGO, GLADYS WAS TRYING TO CALL HER SISTER IN MARYLAND BUT KEPT DIALING 401 INSTEAD OF 410. MIKE WAS ON THE OTHER END OF THE PHONE. >> MY DAD SAID ALWAYS ANSWER YOUR PHONE, YOU NEVER KNOW WHO IT IS. >> OH SWEETHEART, I GOT THE WRONG NUMBER. DID TTHA A COUPLE MORE TIMES THAT DAY AND NEXT WEEK, SAME THING, MAYBEHE T NEXT MONTH. >> The Reporter: GLADYS KEPT CALLING AND MIKE KEPT ANSWERING. >> FINALLY I JUST GRABBED IT, SWEETHEART, BEFORE YOU GO, WHO ARE YOU? WHERE ARE YOU FROM? WHAT ARE YOU TRYING TO DO AND WE JUST STARTED TALKING. >> I TOLD HIM, M SORRY, I WAS TRYING TO CALL MY SISTER. HE SAID THIS IS ME. I SAID, MY SON PASSED AWAY, HE SAID I’M SSOO RRY AND HE WAS TALKING REAL NICE TO ME AND I WAS TALKING NICE TO HIM AND AFTER THAT, I HAD HIS PHONE NUMBER AND PUT IT DOWN ON THE PAPER AND I ALWAYS CALLED HIM. E REPORTER: IT WAS A DIFFICULT TIME IN HER LIFE. SHE WAS DIVORCED AND HAD JUST LOST AON S. SHE SALES, MIKE ALWAYS LIFTED HER SPIRITS. >> DURING THE TIME I WAS DOWN HEARTED AND HE FELT MY SYMPATHY AND EVERYTHING AND LIFTED ME UP. HE WAS REAL NICE. THE REPORTER: WHETHER MIKE AND HIS FAMILY WERE IN FLORIDA OVER OF THE THANKSGIVING HOLIDAY, HE SURPRISED GLADYS AT HER HOME IN DELRAY BEACH. >> JUST WALKED IN AND I SAID I’M MIKE FROM ATLANTAND A SHE JUST THREW HER HANDS UP AND SHE SAID I’M BLESSED. >> IT WAS SUCH A GREAT DAY. THAT MADE MY DAY. >> YOU’VE MANAGED TO STAY IN TOUCH OVER 20 YEARS. >> YES, YES. >> I WOULD SAY YOU’RE NOT STRANGERS ANYMORE. >> NO, NO. SEEM LIKE A FAMILY MEMBER TO ME, YOU KNOW. I WISH MORE PEOPLE COULD BE LIKE THAT, YOU KNOW, TO BE LIKE THAT, THAT WOULD BE SO NICE. THE WORLD WOULD BE BETTER TOO. PEOPLE WOULD BE BETTER. FELICIA: OH. TODD: WHEN I CALL THE WRONG NUMBER, THEY TELL ME, DON’T EVER LLCA AGAIN. FELICIA: WOW. WELL, MIKE TELLS US BACK THEN, WHEN HE FIRST — HE WAS UNGSI A NEXTEL FLIP PHONE WHEN GLADYS FIRST CALLED HIM. THAT’S HOW LONG AGO. >> CALLER: IT WAS A WHILEGO A. THAT’S QUITE A
Delray Beach woman dials the wrong number for 20 years and builds a friendship with a stranger
Updated: 9:35 AM EST Nov 30, 2021
Gladys Hankerson has spent the last 20 years calling the wrong number — a beautiful mistake that has turned into an unlikely friendship. All those years ago, Gladys was trying to call her sister in Maryland, but kept dialing area code 401, instead of 410. Follow us on social: Facebook | Twitter | Instagram Mike Moffitt from Rhode Island was on the other end of the phone. “I was raised by my dad, you always answer your phone, you never know who it is,” Moffitt said. So, he answered the phone.“’Oh sweetheart, I’ve got the wrong number,’ she said, and hung up real quick, she did that a couple of times that day, next week the same thing, maybe next month,” Moffitt said. Gladys kept calling, and Mike kept answering.”Finally I just grabbed it and said, ‘Wait wait wait before you go, who are you, where are you from, what are you trying to do,’ and we started talking,” Moffitt said. “I told him, ‘I’m sorry, I was trying to call my sister,’ and he said, ‘This is Mike,’ and I said, ‘My son passed away,’ and he said, ‘I’m so sorry.’ and he talked real nice to me and I talked real nice to him, and after that, I had his phone number and I put it down on paper and I always called him,” Hankerson said. Stay informed: Local coverage from WPBF 25 NewsIt was a difficult time in her life. She was divorced and just lost a son. She said Mike always lifted her spirits.“During that time I was downhearted, and he felt my sympathy and lifted me up, he was real nice you know,” Hankerson said.When Mike and his family were in Florida over the Thanksgiving holiday, he surprised Gladys at her home in Delray Beach, with his daughters giggling from the car, excited for the much-anticipated meeting.“I walk in and I said, ‘I’m Mike from Rhode Island,’ and she just threw her hands up and said, ‘I’m blessed,’” Moffitt said. “Oh it was such a great day, that was the happiest Thanksgiving there was, that made my day.”What some might consider an inconvenience proved there are incredible people in this world who are just a wrong number away.“I wish more people could be like that you know, that would be so nice, the world would be better too, people would be better,” Hankerson said. Share with us: Upload your photos and videos via uLocal
Gladys Hankerson has spent the last 20 years calling the wrong number — a beautiful mistake that has turned into an unlikely friendship.
All those years ago, Gladys was trying to call her sister in Maryland, but kept dialing area code 401, instead of 410.
Follow us on social: Facebook | Twitter | Instagram
Mike Moffitt from Rhode Island was on the other end of the phone.
“I was raised by my dad, you always answer your phone, you never know who it is,” Moffitt said.
So, he answered the phone.
“’Oh sweetheart, I’ve got the wrong number,’ she said, and hung up real quick, she did that a couple of times that day, next week the same thing, maybe next month,” Moffitt said.
Gladys kept calling, and Mike kept answering.
“Finally I just grabbed it and said, ‘Wait wait wait before you go, who are you, where are you from, what are you trying to do,’ and we started talking,” Moffitt said.
“I told him, ‘I’m sorry, I was trying to call my sister,’ and he said, ‘This is Mike,’ and I said, ‘My son passed away,’ and he said, ‘I’m so sorry.’ and he talked real nice to me and I talked real nice to him, and after that, I had his phone number and I put it down on paper and I always called him,” Hankerson said.
Stay informed: Local coverage from WPBF 25 News
It was a difficult time in her life. She was divorced and just lost a son. She said Mike always lifted her spirits.
“During that time I was downhearted, and he felt my sympathy and lifted me up, he was real nice you know,” Hankerson said.
When Mike and his family were in Florida over the Thanksgiving holiday, he surprised Gladys at her home in Delray Beach, with his daughters giggling from the car, excited for the much-anticipated meeting.
“I walk in and I said, ‘I’m Mike from Rhode Island,’ and she just threw her hands up and said, ‘I’m blessed,’” Moffitt said. “Oh it was such a great day, that was the happiest Thanksgiving there was, that made my day.”
What some might consider an inconvenience proved there are incredible people in this world who are just a wrong number away.
“I wish more people could be like that you know, that would be so nice, the world would be better too, people would be better,” Hankerson said.
Share with us: Upload your photos and videos via uLocal