‘It’s surreal and amazing’
Alder Point woman Set for Life winner
An Alder Point woman is $675,000 richer after she won the top prize for Atlantic Lottery Corp.’s Set for Life scratch ticket last week.
Charlina MacLeod, 65, who is a retired food and beverage server, scratched the winning ticket while waiting in line at the drive-through of a Tim Hor- tons restaurant.
She had stopped to get the coffee for her son who was doing some renovations to her house. After arriving home, she asked her son to look at the ticket.
“When I saw him, I started crying and shaking and I said ‘Look at this ticket and tell me if you see what I see,’ and he looked at it and that’s how my life changed,” MacLeod said at a celebration with friends and family, hosted by Atlantic Lottery Corp. at Emera Centre Northside in North Sydney on Saturday.
MacLeod said that she still can’t believe the ticket she purchased at a Shoppers Drug Mart in North Sydney was the grandprize winner.
“It’s surreal and amazing, it’s just unbelievable that this is happening to me — especially at this time.”
MacLeod was emotional during the celebrations and said that her husband of 46 years, George MacLeod, who died from lung cancer on March 30, was a part of her win and was watching over her.
“I see a lot of rainbows now and I know he’s with me. When I scratched the Set for Life ticket there were three umbrellas, so I know it’s linked to him,” said MacLeod.
MacLeod added that the winnings would make George happy because he wouldn’t have to worry about his family.
“He’d say that he wouldn’t have to worry about us. When he was dying he worried if I would be all right and he knows now that he doesn’t have to worry, but I would give the money back in an instant if I could have him home healthy,” said MacLeod.
MacLeod chose the $675,000 lump sum payout rather than $1,000 a week for 25 years. She said that she and her late husband, who always convinced her to buy Set for Life tickets, often dreamed of winning the grand prize.
“He used to say ‘We don’t have to win $1 million, just enough to take care of us,’” she said. “And that’s what we won. There’s nothing I need but it’s a stress off of me and now I can help my family.”
She said she plans to spend the money in different ways, but is happiest to not have to worry about finances.
“I’m going to help my family out, stash some money away, maybe invest, enjoy life and travel a little bit,” she said.
“I have two beautiful grandchildren, if I feel like buying them an extra toy for Christmas I can. If I need something like a new car or to fix the roof, I don’t need to worry about it now.”