An Illinois man who discovered he had won $3 million after scratching off a lottery ticket in a 7-Eleven parking lot immediately returned to the store to do something very important: hug the proprietor.
The Illinois Lottery reports that the winner, who wishes to remain anonymous, purchased a 200X Payout Instant Ticket at a 7-Eleven in Mount Prospect, northwest of Chicago.
The man, a regular client at the convenience store, went outside to his truck and scratched off his ticket, as he always does after purchasing one. He told the lottery that all he had to do was go back into the store and hug the owner.
“The owner, his wife, and his son are very nice people,” he informed Lottery officials. “The owner recently told his wife, ‘That guy will win someday!'” He always comes in, sits in his vehicle, and scratches his tickets, and he’s always quite happy. He is surely going to win.”
The man’s wife was the second person to learn that they were suddenly millionaires.
“When I got home, I left the winning ticket on the kitchen table for my wife to find,” he informed the lottery. “She asked, ‘Are you toying with me? Is this real? For years, she has joked with me, ‘Can’t you simply win the jackpot already?’ Well, we did it! “Just in time for retirement.”
According to the Lottery, the man claimed his lottery winner on Jan. 26 and intends to use the money to send his wife to Hawaii.
“We’ve been planning our retirement for a while now and winning the lottery helps us to be more comfortable with the decision,” the winner of the jackpot told the lottery. “We’re already planning to move near our daughter and son-in-law so that we can be closer to our new grandson.”