A British guy crashed her Thanksgiving dinner. They've been married for 20 years

Editor's Note: This story was originally published on Thanksgiving 2021 and was updated and republished for Thanksgiving 2023.

It was November 1997 and Dina Honour was hosting Thanksgiving dinner for the first time. The then 27-year-old invited a group of New York City friends who, like her, had decided to stay in the city over the holidays.

It had been a tough year for Dina. She'd been suffering from depression after a bad relationship.

"I had slowly found my way back to a sense of normal, and was not looking for love," Dina tells CNN Travel today.

Instead, Dina was focusing on hosting her friends for the holiday. She'd set up a dining table in the two-bed apartment she shared with a roommate in Brooklyn. Her sister had traveled over from Boston. She'd busied herself all morning mashing potato and roasting turkey.

She'd asked each guest to bring along something to contribute to the spread. Soon her friends started to trickle in, bearing holiday tidings, holding cornbread, pies and cranberry sauce.

Then Dina opened the door to one friend, only to realize he had two mystery guests in tow.