Many lottery jackpot winners head off to the nearest mall or a car dealership or realtor once they knew they won.
This is not the case for Linda and Don Ingram, the winners of the recent $50-million Lotto Max jackpot. What the couple did was to go to Wally’s World, the old fashioned restaurant in Oshawa where they worked for almost 15 years. Don and Linda settled into a booth and give their co-workers a big hug and ordered pop.
Linda said: “Where else would we go ... this is where all our friends are.” Her husband Don nodded in approval.
Linda added that they would not be working that day because they were still recovering from flu.
Wally Elawar, the owner of the restaurant, said that the couple is just like that.
“I’ve known them for years and years and nobody deserves this more than these two. They are simple, down-to-earth and good people,” he said.
Linda,age 59, and Don, age 53, have never owned a house and they have been struggling to pay their electric bills because of Don’s health issues.
The big windfall changed everything.
Linda has been consistent for the past ten years to purchase lottery tickets from the same convenience store near their apartment building. The day before the draw, she purchased four Lotto Max tickets. The day after the draw, Linda went to the same store to check the Lotto Max winning numbers if she had won anything. She and her husband have only won free tickets in the past.
The clerk at the store checked her tickets, and then the screen froze. Linda thought that it only happens if there is a big win. After 20 minutes, someone from Ontario Lottery and Gaming Corporation called.
That was how Linda discovered that she won $50 million. Linda said she almost passed out when she knew she won the jackpot. She went screaming, jumping up and down at the convenience store and racing home towards their home to tell the news to her husband.
Don said that he did not believe his wife first. He told his wife to prove that they really won the jackpot.
When his wife finally convinced Don, they just lay down on the bed, hold each other’s hand and giggled.
“It’s such a big chunk of money. What are you supposed to do with it?” Don added.
What the Ingrams wanted right now is to make their kids and grandkids to be happy. The couple has a son and daughter who live in Oshawa.
Don and Linda want to purchase a nice house with a pool and a big shed. They said they might purchase one in Brampton because Don likes that community.
“We just don’t want to pay rent any longer and live a comfortable life. “We have dreamed of owning our house for a very long time. For all the 36 years that we have been married,” said Linda.
But the plans of the couple will be executed later as both of them still plan to work at Wally’s World.
Linda said to their co-workers that they are not quitting.
“We are absolutely coming back to work here ... at least for the next few months. As soon as this flu goes away,” she added.
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