An Iowa woman’s cherished ritual with her late husband has turned into a life-changing lottery win.
Marjory Rittman of West Des Moines was doing what she’d done countless Saturday nights before on Nov. 29 — continuing a tradition she shared with her husband, Dale, who died in March.
For years, the pair spent their Saturday evenings playing crossword scratch games, often joking with each other that they were “going to hit the big one,” Marjory told Iowa Lottery officials.
About eight months after Dale’s passing, that hopeful phrase finally came true. On a snowy Saturday night, Marjory sat down with a $100,000 Mega Crossword scratch ticket — and was stunned to realize she’d landed the game’s top prize.
When she arrived at Iowa Lottery headquarters on Monday, Dec. 1, she described the experience as “absolutely surreal.”
“I just sat there and stared at it for a while,” she recalled. “We were always waiting for that big one to come through, and it finally did.”
Speaking of her late husband, she added, “This is maybe a sign and a gift from him.”
The $100,000 Mega Crossword scratch game costs $10 to play and offers 46 top prizes of $100,000. There are also 92 prizes of $10,000 available, and the game’s overall odds are 1 in 3.29, according to a press release from the Iowa Lottery.
The game uses a set of letters printed on the ticket, and players build words from that collection. The more complete words they can make, the larger the prize they can win.
Marjory told the Iowa Lottery that she plans to invest most of her winnings into a retirement fund. Still, she’s planning a few well-earned indulgences, too — including some new furniture.
