What’s the best way to celebrate Christmas? By winning $50,000,000, of course.
A family from Quebec’s Laurentians region snagged the golden ticket for the Lotto Max jackpot in the Dec. 15 draw.
Nancy Gauthier, her mother Jeannette Boisvert and her mother’s partner Gilles Larouche are the lucky winners.
“I swear I was shaking,” Gauthier said of the surreal moment when she learned they were multi-millionaires.
Gauthier bought the ticket at her mother’s urging and when she went to check the results online, only to discover six of their numbers matched those in the draw.
She looked down at the seventh final number and then back at the website. That’s when Gauthier fell to her knees and screamed. Her mother was beside her when Gauthier said “I got them all.”
“It was insane,” Gauthier said Thursday during a Loto-Québec news conference, adding her mom made her check the numbers over several times.
Larouche was woken up by the excited screams and he thought someone had broken into their home. That’s when he learned his life was about to change.
“She (Gauthier) told me we won it all,” he said.
In disbelief about their newfound fortune, he hasn’t been able to sleep well since but says he’s taking the time to relax. Gauthier, for her part, kept the winning ticket on her until she was able to claim the prize.
What does the family have planned for their winnings? Well, the mother and daughter duo who worked together decided to retire from their job.
They both work 10-hour shifts in the upholstery business as a team and would only wrap up around 2 a.m. most nights.
“To give your resignation at 34 years old,” Gauthier said. “I have to tell you, that’s something.”
Her boss wanted her to give two weeks notice, but Gauthier admits she “didn’t really feel like it” and apologized for her sudden departure. She wants to wait a bit before she decides what to do next.
The family plans on living out a dream by moving closer to nature. The three of them are looking to buy a small farm where they can live together. Larouche also plans on buying a new car.
This is the third time in as many months that a Lotto Max ticket was won in the province — with different holidays bringing luck.
A Montreal resident claimed a whopping $50-million jackpot after buying a ticket during a Thanksgiving grocery run. A few weeks later, a couple from the Eastern Townships won $55 million on Halloween.
— with files from Global’s Felicia Parrillo