Local woman has a lucky day that pays off

A woman from Jackson County has a few more bucks in her wallet.

The lucky player has chosen to remain anonymous but her numbers came up this week playing the lottery.

She was playing the Michigan's Lottery's Bonus Cashword instant game and hit for a $100,000 prize.

"I don't play the Lottery often, but I had been having an unusually lucky day," the player said. "I went to the eye doctor and they told me I didn't need new contacts which saved me some money, then I helped my daughter with yard work and we finished in half the time that was expected. When I left my daughter's, I left my cellphone on my car trunk and realized when I got about five miles down the road. I backtracked, and found it laying in the middle of the road unscathed. That's when I decided I needed to buy a Lottery ticket."

She bought the winning ticket at a BP gas station on North West Avenue in Jackson.

"I stopped at a BP station I'd never been to before and told the clerk to give me a winning Cashword ticket. When I scratched it after dinner at my mom's I couldn't believe what I was seeing. I wrote down the 10 words I matched and went over them several times to make sure I wasn't crazy."

She wasn't crazy. The 60-year-old claimed her prize Thursday at Lottery Headquarters.

She said that she'll use the money toward a retirement home for herself and her husband.

"Winning is awesome! We've worked so hard our whole lives, it feels like we finally got something we deserve," the player said.

The Michigan Lottery says that players have won more than $11 million playing Bonus Cashword, which launched in December 2017.

"Each $3 ticket offers players a chance to win prizes ranging from $3 up to $100,000. More than $16 million in prizes remain, including five $100,000 top prizes, and 136 $1,000 prizes."