ADVANCE — Paula Graham said she had a hunch back in May that she was going to win the top prize playing the $200,000 a Year for Life game.
Instincts paid off big for the Advance resident now that she has won the prize of a lifetime: a guaranteed $4 million prize that could be worth much more as it continues to pay her for the rest of her life.
Lottery Executive Director Alice Garland presented Graham with a check Monday at Carleton’s Tanglewood where Graham purchased her winning ticket. The store is located just off Interstate 40 in Clemmons.
Graham first noticed the $200,000 a Year for Life game while waiting in line to buy Powerball tickets from Carleton’s.Graham said she played instant games only a few times in five years since the lottery began.
After a series of lesser wins playing $200,000 a Year for Life, Graham said she was “shocked” on the morning of Sunday, July 10, when she scratched off the life-changing prize.
“In another sense it was not a surprise,” she said. “Because in my head I’d been thinking for two months that I was supposed to play this game.”
Graham said she plans to use her initial winnings, which totaled $136,006 after taxes, to take a trip and maybe buy a new car.
In particular, she has her eye on an Infiniti SUV.
Graham or her estate will continue receiving payments as long as she lives.
“I’m turning 51,” Graham said, adding “I’m going to be living for a long time.”