Illinois woman secures $1m jackpot off $10 scratch-off ticket

• An Illinois woman and her husband are planning retirement after she won a $10 scratch-off ticket
• The $1,000,000 top prize will allow Cynthia of Grant City and her husband to travel to France for a well-overdue romantic getaway while also putting money towards home improvements
• Cynthia bought the $10 Money Match scratcher at a favorite location of hers, with the shop also scooping a bonus payment of $10,000

An Illinois woman has turned her love for the lottery into a win, with the Grant City woman fetching the top $1,000,000 prize from the $10 Money Matchscratch-off ticket.

The woman, Cynthia, was happy to pose for the customary photo op and reveal her face and identity to an extent, posing side by side with her husband, who was holding the winning ticket, while the woman herself was holding a "I won!" huge round sticker in the Illinois Lottery’s branding.

Illinois lottery winner bought the ticket at the same place where she always gets her tickets

Cynthia ended up buying the winning ticket at the same place she usually scoops her lottery tickets and other relevant purchases - Curly’s Corner Market at 527 Maryville Road in Granite City, which will definitely appreciate her loyalty as a customer, as the shop is getting a bonus estimated at 1% of the total prize, or $10,000 in this case.

"I shop at this store almost every day, and the staff knows me by name. I wanted to try a different game, so I picked this one," Cynthia added. Of course, the win took some time to properly sink in, and she didn’t immediately realize that she had won the amount.

Rather, she had to check twice to make sure she "wasn’t seeing things." "One of my coworkers even checked in on me, and I started shaking," she recounted the events of finding out that she had won $1,000,000.

Cynthia and her hubby will get on with visiting Paris, France, after 17 years

But she wasn’t the only person surprised, as calling in her husband to share the good news, Cynthia’s spouse also thought his significant other was playing tricks on her. However, the man was quickly convinced, and the two started discussing retirement.

"My husband and I have been married for 17 years, but never had a honeymoon. You bet we’re going to one of the most romantic places in the world, France," she added.

Cynthia, though, will retain her pragmatic streak as well, planning on home improvements, as well as putting some of the money away for a rainy day.

Image credit: Unsplash.com