As I was making lunch today, I heard the following fascinating story on the radio, so I had to look it up and read it for myself:

The following article is from baltimoresun.com:
DANBURY, Conn. (AP) — On the day that Donald Peters died, he unknowingly provided financial security for his wife of 59 years and their family.

Peters bought two Connecticut Lottery tickets at a local 7-Eleven store on Nov. 1 as part of a 20-year tradition he shared with his wife Charlotte. Later that day, the 79-year-old retired hat factory worker suffered a fatal heart attack while working in his yard in Danbury.

On Friday, his widow cashed in one of the tickets: a $10 million winner which, in her grief over her husband’s death, she had put aside and almost discarded before recently checking the numbers.

“I’m numb,” Charlotte Peters, 78, said at Connecticut Lottery headquarters in Rocky Hill.

Donald Peters usually bought the tickets for 10 weeks at a stretch, so the winning ticket he bought Nov. 1 for the Dec. 2 drawing was among several that Charlotte Peters put aside as she, their three children and two grandchildren coped with his sudden death.

“I was in the grocery store and I had it checked and they told me I was a winner,” she said. “I had no idea how much it was.”

She said she thought she had won $6 million but was surprised to learn from lottery officials she’d won $10 million.

Charlotte Peters has 60 days to decide whether to take a $6 million pre-tax lump sum payment or stretch the winnings into 21 yearly payments of almost $477,300 each.

She does not yet know what she will do with the money.

“I’ve always wanted a Corvette, but I don’t think I’ll buy one. I’ll stick to a small car. I might go to Mohegan Sun,” she said, referring to the casino in Connecticut. “I’m going to go home and sit and think.”

The Peters children think their father would have appreciated the irony.

“He’d be very mad, he just passed away and she won a lot of money,” said Brian Peters, one of the couple’s three children. “He’d say, ‘Figures!'”

Even though Mr. Peters was not aware of his “luck”, in effect he paid the ultimate price to win the lottery.  Was it worth it?  Probably not.  Any sane person would rather have his life, health, and loved ones rather than an extremely large windfall if there was a choice.  Since that’s a poll I’d rather not take, here is one about what you would do if you won a huge amount of money in a lottery.

[poll id=”4″]

A friend drew my attention to one of her summer traditions (Tradition, Tradition). It seems that the World’s Longest Garage Sale begins today (August 6) and runs through August 9th. I asked how long it is and discovered that it runs 654 miles from West Unity, Ohio all the way to Gadsden, Alabama (or vice versa). This event draws people from all over the world. I think it sounds rather fascinating just to see how many stops you can make in the four-day event. Apparently, vendors from all over participate and there are even sponsors for the event. It would be fun to go and watch expert hagglers attempt to find a treasure and get it for next to nothing. The website (YES… there is even a website) has interesting links that go into detail about how to plan your treasure hunt and other useful information. One question asks if there is an admission charge (honestly, has anyone ever been to a garage sale and been charged to enter?). Then, they offer a very helpful tidbit about watching for other cars. Driving along the route, looking for your next stop and suddenly WHAM! CRASH! POW! then, it is Holy Traffic Jam, Batman! So… if you are in the mood for a loooong road trip, you can travel along US127 all weekend long in search of buried treasure…. AAAARGH, Matey!