He was accidentally added to a group text 7 years ago. Now, he's one of them
For most people, a chaotic group chat filled with unfamiliar names means ‘exit.’ Per TODAY's report published on Wednesday, November 26, 2025, when Kendrick Constant’s phone buzzed with a flood of messages from a group of retired investment bankers planning a birthday dinner in Manhattan in 2018, he gave it a thought. Something about the liveliness made him pause instead of disappearing. At the time, Constant was 22, fresh out of college and just beginning a career in finance. The group, meanwhile, was composed of people nearly twice his age, all strangers, all certain that he was someone else. The mismatch should have made the moment forgettable, but it became the first chapter of a bond for a lifetime.
The ice breaker was when someone in the chat shared a photo from the dinner they’d been planning, and you won’t believe what Constant did! He clipped his own headshot and carefully photoshopped himself into the gathering, smiling among people he had never met. It was absurd, bold, harmless, and hilarious. “It started as a joke,” Constant told the outlet. But the joke didn’t end where he expected. Rather than ask him to leave, they adopted him for life. Their banter continued for weeks, then months. Slowly, Constant shifted from “the new guy” to simply one of them. No one anticipated how organically a friendship could grow.
One member in particular, Brent Milner, became a close friend; it was his birthday dinner that the group was planning in that original flurry of messages. Their first in-person meeting happened months later when Milner invited him to a recording studio in New York. Constant, a church choir singer and drummer, spent hours playing music with Milner and his friends, and this made the digital thread feel real.
From then on, their conversations turned deeper. Constant often reached out to Milner for guidance, especially in the initial phase of his financial advisory career. “He’s always been a helping hand,” Constant revealed. “As a young financial advisor, I’d reach out for advice: how to navigate situations, what stocks to look at, how to approach conversations.” Milner also felt the friendship evolving with time, “We cover all kinds of stuff, life, failure, success, everything,” he said. “It’s never just one thing with Kendrick.”
No doubt this worked because even research by Aisha Kakembo and Annet on “Intergenerational Relationships: Learning from the Past,” published in May 2025, on ResearchGate highlights that Intergenerational bonds do not just link people of different ages, they carry history forward and connect our past to what’s ahead. These relationships play a key role in passing down knowledge, traditions, and values, while also fostering empathy, deeper understanding, and a sense of community.
Constant added, “I just saw people I could connect with, and they saw the same in me. Even if we come from different worlds, we’re still able to find common ground.” Constant shared this story through an Instagram reel, and it resonated deeply online. Many saw it as a gentle proof of a warm and genuine connection. @mplsstpleila commented, "This brought tears to my eyes. What a beautiful show of humanity." Even @photoshop’s official account chimed in, "Wow, this is incredible. What a story!" Meanwhile, @idoubledip remarked, "You were best friends in a previous life and promised to reconnect in this life."
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