Grandmother says her grandchildren will love her a lot more now

By Kate Northrop

JONESBORO, Ark. — An Arkansas woman will be able to cross off several top priority action items on her to-do list with the $1 million prize she won in the lottery, including purchasing a headstone for her son.

One grandmother was skeptical that she'd win the lottery even as she handed over the money to buy her ticket, but she's singing a different tune now that she has a check for $1 million from the Arkansas Lottery in her hands.

A Jonesboro resident, who declined to provide her name, claimed a $1 million prize from a scratch-off ticket at the Lottery Claim Center on Feb. 1, the Lottery announced.

On her day off, the anonymous woman stopped at the Kum & Go on Southwest Drive in Jonesboro to use the restroom. She eyed the lottery ticket cabinet and decided she would buy whichever game caught her eye.

Although she plays the lottery "all the time," she was positive that this next ticket wasn't going to amount to anything.

"Not that I'm going to win anything," she remembers thinking at the time.

She picked out a $20 "$1,000,000 Cash" instant game and got to work scratching it off in the store. She hadn't made it through the entire play area of the ticket before she saw that she had won a $1 million prize.

"When I hit that — y'all don't even want to know my first thought," the grandmother joked with Lottery officials.

She called her sister right away, but all that could come out of her mouth was her sister's name over and over again before finally revealing the win.

Next, she called her daughter and grandchildren.

"Do you love your grandma?" she asked them with a grin on her face. "Well, you're really going to love her now."

Since she doesn't plan on leaving her job, the money from the prize will pay off several expenses, including her truck, land, and other outstanding bills. She'll also use the winnings to purchase a headstone for her son.

"I'm not old enough to retire," she told the Lottery.

She doesn't plan on quitting playing either — the lottery enthusiast will keep coming back for more tickets.

The Jonesboro woman claimed the second out of three available top prizes of $1 million in the $20 "$1,000,000 Cash" game, which launched in November 2022, leaving just one top prize for another player to claim. There is also one out of two second-tier prizes of $50,000 left. All four third-tier prizes of $10,000 and six fourth-tier prizes of $5,000 have been won.

The odds of winning any prize in the game are 1 in 2.97.