Husband cooking with wife scratches Michigan lottery ticket — and couldn’t believe it

A husband was helping his wife cook Thanksgiving dinner when he took a moment to scratch his Michigan lottery ticket.

He had bought The Perfect Gift instant game ticket the night before Thanksgiving, according to a Jan. 5 news release. The $10 scratch ticket offers a top prize of $500,000.

As the 51-year-old husband scratched away the gift icons on his ticket, the man realized he might have won the top prize.

“When I saw I won $500,000, I was in disbelief,” the Iosco County man told lottery officials. “I had my wife check the ticket over to make sure I was reading it right.”

She confirmed he won the big prize.

“I am so grateful to have won a $500,000 prize,” the husband said in the release. “I have been playing the Lottery for a long time, and it feels great that it finally paid off!”

The lottery winner recently went to claim his prize. After taxes, he took home $358,750.

“I don’t have any specific plans in mind for the money yet, but I am looking forward to having some fun with it,” the husband told lottery officials.

He bought his winning ticket at Miners Grove in East Tawas, about 180 miles northwest of Detroit.

This story was originally published January 6, 2023 at 10:13 AM with the headline "Husband cooking with wife scratches Michigan lottery ticket — and couldn’t believe it."