GERMANTOWN, MD – Last week, a 78-year-old jackpot chaser from Montgomery County visited the Lottery Winners Circle for the first time. A week earlier, the player was shopping for groceries when her good fortune struck.
The winning grandmother enjoys playing jackpot games and typically purchases both Powerball and Mega Millions tickets, choosing her own numbers. When she bought her games on Feb. 26, the Lottery self-serve vending machine didn’t let her pick her own numbers, so she got quick-pick tickets instead. She won $50,000 third-tier prize in the Powerball drawing on Feb. 27 by buying that ticket from Wegmans #56 at 20600 Seneca Meadows Parkway in Germantown.
The woman’s name was not released publicly out of privacy concerns.
When the lucky lady checked her tickets the day after the drawing, she realized she had matched four white balls and the red Power Ball.
“I always check my tickets at the kitchen table with a cup of coffee,” she told Lottery officials. “I have to say, I was happy and upset at the same time, because I missed the jackpot by just one number.”
Her daughter, who accompanied her mother to Lottery headquarters, said she was shocked when her mom called her to show her the winning ticket.
“She showed me the ticket and said, ‘I think it’s a big one,’” recalled the winner’s daughter. “I double-checked it to be sure and she was right.”
The lucky player had three daughters who live across the country. She and her Maryland daughter already had plans to visit these family members, so the ticket was stored for safekeeping until the winner could claim the prize. A retired grocery store employee from Iowa and Colorado, the lucky player has three daughters. In an interview with Lottery officials, the loving mother and grandmother claimed that her winnings would augment her already planned vacation.
Based on an article published by the Maryland Lottery.