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Father's lottery win becomes a $1 million wedding gift for his son

Wedded bliss, for sure!

Aaron Andrews, holding his $1 million Cash4Life check.
Aaron Andrews, holding his $1 million Cash4Life check. Photograph credit to the Virginia Lottery.
Todd Betzold

Whether it was to get his son and his new wife out of his basement or not, a Virginia man happened to give one of the best wedding gifts ever — $1 million!

A big Cash4Life win

Aaron Andrews and his wife got married in April. Since the wedding, they have been living in his father's basement in Prince William County. However, that is about to change!

His father, who happens to be an avid lottery player, recently bought a Cash4Life ticket for the Virginia Lottery. The ticket was for the August 3 drawing, and his father ended up matching the first five winning numbers on that ticket, which means the prize is either $1,000 every week for life or a one-time cash option of $1 million!

The dad wasn't going to make that decision. Instead, he gave the ticket to his son as a wedding present, and Aaron chose the cash option, which made it a $1 million wedding gift!

The winning ticket

Aaron's father purchased the winning ticket at PJ's Neighborhood Variety Store, located at 19122-A Fuller Heights Road in Triangle.

The winning numbers for that August 3 drawing were 25, 35, 36, 41, and 59, and the Cash Ball number was 2. The father used the Easy Pick option, so he let the computer randomly select his numbers, which paid off when matching all five of the winning numbers beside the Cash Ball.

Aaron made his way to the lottery headquarters to claim his prize, and he told the lottery officials, “I have a great father who has done nothing but look out for me!”

While Aaron said he is looking forward to buying a home with his new wife, his dad joked, “This was the best way to get him out of my basement.”

Another new millionaire in Virginia

There happens to be another new millionaire in Virginia thanks to the state lottery, this time with one lucky online player!

Theresita Pleasants-Lewis was sitting at home, playing Virginia Lottery games on her computer. She was excited to see that she won $1,000, or so she thought.

She thought wrong. She actually won over $1.4 million!

Pleasants-Lewis, of Henrico, was playing Western Wins and won a jackpot worth $1.44 million.

“I'm just still in shock!” she told Virginia Lottery officials. “I'm not excited because I think it's a dream!”

Work break pays off

Another Virginia Lottery player was working with his father in the Salem area when it was time for the electricians to take a break.

That is when Martin Calixto of Greenville, South Carolina, stopped at Caverns Market, located at 5721 Fallbrooke Road in Salem, with his father. During the stop, Martin bought a Bags of Cash ticket, and when he scratched it, he found out he had a big ol' bag of cash coming his way!

“Oh wow! We should probably check that out!” he said to his father.

They checked it out, and it turns out the winning ticket was worth $500,000.

While he did collect his winnings, Calixto told lottery officials that he had no immediate plans for his winnings except to take care of his family.

Enjoy playing the Virginia Lottery, and please remember to play responsibly.

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