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The Greatest Gift Of All
#WritcoStoryPrompt3
I read it once, then twice. I wasn't imagining it - I had won the lottery!
I was stunned! I had stopped by that convenient store every morning on my way to work for the last 20 years. Today was no different, I got my usual. My stale cheese danish and my half coffee, half mocha cappuccino. Today I decided to throw it all to the wind and buy $50 worth of scratchers. I mean why not, it had been a hell of a week! I went to my car, unwrapped my danish, sipped on my coffee and scrounged a penny from my purse to scratch the silver coating from the tickets. I sit there listening to the radio, which I never did but I took notice because they were playing "Don't Stop Thinking About Tomorrow" by Fleetwoood Mac. I always loved this song growing up. I meticulously scratched all the coating off each ticket. Once I was done, I tried to make heads or tails out of what I was looking at. It seemed as though I had a winner, I read the rules on the back. Could this be real? Did I just win 1 Million dollars!!?? I wasn't sure and didn't want to be too presumptuous. I decided to gather myself and go back in and approach Ms. Millie, the cashier who had worked there for as long as I had been going there. I opened the door slowly and patiently waited for the last customer to leave. Ms. Millie said Leigh Anne honey is everything okay? Well, I'm not sure I ssid. Can you look at this for me? I approached the counter and handed her the ticket. She pulled her glassed halfway down her nose and started eyeing the paper. Oh, oh, she said. What is it, I said? She said, oh honey I think I'm gonna need to call someone and verify this. If this is right honey, you are a big winner! Ms. Millie proceeded to make the phone call and the person on the other end was asking her a series of questions that ended in answers with alot of numbers. She gave the answer yes, yes, and yes then hung up the phone. Well honey, you may want to sit down for this but you have just won one million dollars! I literally almost fainted, my ears started ringing and my breathing was very fast. What do I do now, I asked? Well, you will need to fill out some paperwork, we will send it off, then within the next week or so someone will contact you. Congratulations honey, I am so happy for you she said. I took the paperwork and went to my car. I didn't go to work. I was just to shook up. I called and told them I had a flat tire and I would be at the car dealership for the bigger part of the day. I went straight home and read through all the paperwork the proceeded to fill it all out. This took a good hour. Once I was finished I read back over everything. It was so surreal. I couldn't believe it! It was only three o' clock so I still had time to get it to the post office. Driving there I thought about how this was going to change my life and everyone in it. I got there and sealed the envelope, placed the stamp and dropped it in the box. Now to wait, I thought. How was I going to eat, sleep, think until this all got sorted out? The next day I went to work and tried my best to focus on my work. This whole last week had been a whirlwind anyway, so this was just the cherry on top. I had already planned to give my resognation letter before I ever went into that store and scratched that ticket, because of health reasons. It was going to be a hard letter to write, but now I won't have to do that. This money is my way out, no questions asked. Days passed and within one week the New York State Lottery Commission contacted me. I met with them along with my attorney and chose how I would like to receive my monies. I chose to do an annuity over 20 years, this way my husband and children would be set up for life. I also decided to give part of my money to a local women's shelter for battered women and children. I also am giving a part to my best friend and confidant Michelle Benson who has been beside me through the best and the hardest times of my life, and the hardest have yet to come. You see just one day before I stopped at that store I had gone to see Oncologist. I had slacked on having my yearly check ups because I was "too busy". I am manager at a top non-profit agency in New York, and there just never seemed to be enough time. My doctor had told me that if I had just had my yearly check up that they may have been able to catch "it" in time. Now I have to tell my family that I have Stage IV ovarian cancer and that I only have months to live. This is going to hurt them, it hurts me that I could have prevented my husband from losing his wife, from my children from losing their mother. Now at least I can leave them with a gift of no debt, the future of college completely paid for and maybe give back to the community I have lived in all my life. I have failed them, but with this one tiny thing it could be the greatest gift of all.
I read it once, then twice. I wasn't imagining it - I had won the lottery!
I was stunned! I had stopped by that convenient store every morning on my way to work for the last 20 years. Today was no different, I got my usual. My stale cheese danish and my half coffee, half mocha cappuccino. Today I decided to throw it all to the wind and buy $50 worth of scratchers. I mean why not, it had been a hell of a week! I went to my car, unwrapped my danish, sipped on my coffee and scrounged a penny from my purse to scratch the silver coating from the tickets. I sit there listening to the radio, which I never did but I took notice because they were playing "Don't Stop Thinking About Tomorrow" by Fleetwoood Mac. I always loved this song growing up. I meticulously scratched all the coating off each ticket. Once I was done, I tried to make heads or tails out of what I was looking at. It seemed as though I had a winner, I read the rules on the back. Could this be real? Did I just win 1 Million dollars!!?? I wasn't sure and didn't want to be too presumptuous. I decided to gather myself and go back in and approach Ms. Millie, the cashier who had worked there for as long as I had been going there. I opened the door slowly and patiently waited for the last customer to leave. Ms. Millie said Leigh Anne honey is everything okay? Well, I'm not sure I ssid. Can you look at this for me? I approached the counter and handed her the ticket. She pulled her glassed halfway down her nose and started eyeing the paper. Oh, oh, she said. What is it, I said? She said, oh honey I think I'm gonna need to call someone and verify this. If this is right honey, you are a big winner! Ms. Millie proceeded to make the phone call and the person on the other end was asking her a series of questions that ended in answers with alot of numbers. She gave the answer yes, yes, and yes then hung up the phone. Well honey, you may want to sit down for this but you have just won one million dollars! I literally almost fainted, my ears started ringing and my breathing was very fast. What do I do now, I asked? Well, you will need to fill out some paperwork, we will send it off, then within the next week or so someone will contact you. Congratulations honey, I am so happy for you she said. I took the paperwork and went to my car. I didn't go to work. I was just to shook up. I called and told them I had a flat tire and I would be at the car dealership for the bigger part of the day. I went straight home and read through all the paperwork the proceeded to fill it all out. This took a good hour. Once I was finished I read back over everything. It was so surreal. I couldn't believe it! It was only three o' clock so I still had time to get it to the post office. Driving there I thought about how this was going to change my life and everyone in it. I got there and sealed the envelope, placed the stamp and dropped it in the box. Now to wait, I thought. How was I going to eat, sleep, think until this all got sorted out? The next day I went to work and tried my best to focus on my work. This whole last week had been a whirlwind anyway, so this was just the cherry on top. I had already planned to give my resognation letter before I ever went into that store and scratched that ticket, because of health reasons. It was going to be a hard letter to write, but now I won't have to do that. This money is my way out, no questions asked. Days passed and within one week the New York State Lottery Commission contacted me. I met with them along with my attorney and chose how I would like to receive my monies. I chose to do an annuity over 20 years, this way my husband and children would be set up for life. I also decided to give part of my money to a local women's shelter for battered women and children. I also am giving a part to my best friend and confidant Michelle Benson who has been beside me through the best and the hardest times of my life, and the hardest have yet to come. You see just one day before I stopped at that store I had gone to see Oncologist. I had slacked on having my yearly check ups because I was "too busy". I am manager at a top non-profit agency in New York, and there just never seemed to be enough time. My doctor had told me that if I had just had my yearly check up that they may have been able to catch "it" in time. Now I have to tell my family that I have Stage IV ovarian cancer and that I only have months to live. This is going to hurt them, it hurts me that I could have prevented my husband from losing his wife, from my children from losing their mother. Now at least I can leave them with a gift of no debt, the future of college completely paid for and maybe give back to the community I have lived in all my life. I have failed them, but with this one tiny thing it could be the greatest gift of all.
