A grandmother’s Christmas tradition of buying Maryland Lottery scratch-offs as stocking stuffers led to a holiday tale the family will share for years. Her perennial gift to her six grandchildren yielded a $50,000 surprise for a lucky granddaughter from Laurel, Delaware, who scratched a win on a $20 Max A Million instant ticket!
The grandmother, who lives in Maryland, buys $50 worth of scratch-offs for each grandchild before heading to Delaware for the holidays. “It’s a very exciting tradition,” said the winning 19-year-old granddaughter. “We all turn it into a competition where everybody has to yell out whatever they win, even if it’s only a dollar.”
However, when the out-of-state woman was scratching her Max A Million instant ticket, her grandmother noticed she was unusually quiet. “I asked everyone, ‘If I scratch it off and see all these things, does that mean I won?’ ” the player remembers asking her family.
Even though her mom and grandma confirmed her Lottery luck, the family agreed the $50,000 win did not feel real. That sense of disbelief gave our winner no reason to rush to Lottery headquarters in Baltimore to claim the prize. She did so on Jan. 3.
The college student plans to use her holiday surprise to cover some of the many expenses that come with higher education.
Joining the celebration is the Wicomico County retailer that sold the winning Max A Million instant ticket. Crossroads Food Mart at 2601 Old Ocean City Drive in Salisbury wins bragging rights for the lucky sale. The game still has lots of unclaimed prizes remaining, including six $1 million prizes and 11 more $50,000 prizes.