A retired couple from Texas will never forget their lucky trip to North Carolina after it capped off with a $1 million Mega Millions win.
Joseph and Anetia Roseman of Magnolia, Texas were visiting friends Friday when they stopped at the S.M. Mart on Poplar Tent Road in Concord. After Anetia decided to purchase a $1 Quick Pick ticket for the Mega Millions drawing later that day, the couple returned to the home of their friends.
On Saturday morning, Joseph had the ticket in front of him as he watched highlights of the drawing at the kitchen table. After writing the winning numbers at the top of the ticket and comparing them to his own, he immediately searched for his wife and found her in a bathroom drying her hair.
“I asked her,” Joseph said, “‘What do you get when you match five numbers in Mega Millions?’”
“One million dollars,” she said.
“I guess you won a million then,” Joseph replied.
It still didn’t feel real as the Rosemans made another trip – this time from Concord to lottery headquarters in Raleigh – to claim their prize Wednesday.
“I thought he was yanking my chain,” Anetia said.
Reality set in when they split their after-tax winnings of $692,502 and received $346,251 each. They plan to use the money to pay off bills, save and take a vacation.
The Rosemans were one of four Mega Millions players to win $1 million across the nation on Friday. This Friday’s jackpot jumps to the third largest prize in Mega Millions history with a $415 million annuity or a $286.4 million cash option.
Ticket sales from games like Mega Millions made it possible for the lottery to raise more than half a billion dollars for the state last year. To see how lottery funds have made a difference in every county in the state, visit the “For Education” page on the lottery’s website.