Their Grandfather's Ashes Came Home the Same Week Their Numbers Finally Hit

For years the 30-year-old New Jersey player heard the same line from their father and grandmother. It was less a strategy than a family refrain, repeated over enough dinners and enough losing tickets to become a kind of household proverb. On the night of the May 29 Millionaire for Life drawing, the player handed their dad the usual set of numbers and went to sleep at their parents' house without giving it another thought.

They never checked the ticket. They did not have to - they knew the numbers by heart, and so did their father, who recognized the combination as it came in and woke the house yelling, shaking, jumping. All five had hit: 9, 25, 33, 35 and 42. That is the game's second-tier prize, worth either $100,000 a year for life or $2.2 million in cash. Shore News Network reported the winner took the cash. "It's unbelievable," the player told the New Jersey Lottery. "Wow is all I can say."

Almost nothing on the ticket was random. The player told lottery officials the numbers traced their family: the day they were born, their father's birthday, a relative's lucky number, the age a loved one was when he died, the number 33 that seems to follow them everywhere, and figures tied to where they grew up. Only the Millionaire Ball was left to chance. Playing is a shared ritual in the family - the father buys the tickets and reminds everyone to play their numbers; the winner's grandmother, now in her nineties, plays for the joy of it.

Their grandfather's ashes had stayed in Florida for 27 years. They were moved to New Jersey the same week the ticket hit. Days after claiming the prize, the family buried them at the family plot. "They believe he helped me win," the winner said. "We thanked him for the gift."

The plans the winner described are almost entirely about other people: help the parents who have given so much, donate to St. Jude Children's Research Hospital, take the whole family to Disney, and invest the rest for a future family of their own. "The money doesn't mean much to me, but I'm happy to help my parents," they said. "I finally get to give them a break."

Millionaire for Life is a $5 daily draw game with nine prize tiers. Matching all five numbers plus the Millionaire Ball pays $1 million a year for life, or an $18 million cash option. Matching the five main numbers alone - what happened here - pays $100,000 a year for life or $2.2 million cash. Smaller prizes range from $8 to $7,500.