Dinner is suddenly more delicious for Timothy McDaniel after the Marysville man joked it will be steak and lobster six days a week! (Which raises the question: What’s for dinner on the seventh day!?) Who can blame McDaniel for wanting a menu upgrade after winning $500 per week for 25 years on a $1 California Lucky for Life Scratchers ticket? That comes out to a grand total of $650,000!
“I didn’t expect to win. I bought three Scratchers, a $5, a $2 and a $1. I saw it said ‘LIFE’ on there so I showed my nephew. I was like, ‘Paulie, what does it say!?’ He said, ‘I don’t know Uncle Tim. What’s it say?’ We were like no that ain’t real…that ain’t right. But then he read it again and I said, ‘That’s real! We won. Yahoo!’” McDaniel recalled with a laugh.
The 55-year-old decided he will be taking the cash option, so he’s due to receive a lump sum amount of $375,000 before taxes. That’s a little more – actually a lot more than the $200 McDaniel said he’s won in the past. “Since I got my taxes this year, I don’t know why I’ve been playing a little more than usual. I just got lucky I guess.”
It couldn’t be coming at a better time either. McDaniel said his wife tragically passed away of a heart attack last Saturday. He won the lottery the following evening. “I think she just kind of sent me this money so I could continue taking care of the (grand) kids.”
McDaniel hopes to buy a house, a new truck and put the rest in the bank. “Everything happens for a reason and this is the break I needed. I’m going to keep on working and living my life the same I always have. The only difference is I have a big family and now if anybody needs anything, I can help them out.”