WILLOWBROOK, IL – For Willowbrook resident Virginia Braucher, a spontaneous decision to pick up an Illinois Lottery instant ticket turned her into one of the Lottery’s newest millionaires. A retired grandmother, Braucher, 76, says she plays the lottery sporadically with the $5 and $10 instant tickets as her favorite games. She’s never won before, but the $250 Million Millionaire’s Club instant ticket just made Braucher $1 million richer.

“After stopping at the gas station one day, I decided at the spur of the moment to buy an instant ticket,” said Braucher. “The ticket I originally wanted wasn’t in stock, so I bought two $250 Million Millionaires Club tickets. The first one wasn’t a winner, but when I saw that I won on the second one, I just kept staring at the ticket because I just couldn’t believe I won,” she added.

Stunned by what she saw, Braucher immediately rushed home to show her husband the ticket to make sure her eyes weren’t fooling her. When her husband confirmed that she did indeed have a winning ticket, Braucher said that they just “looked at each other with amazement.” The next day after Braucher told the rest of her family, they celebrated her new millionaire status by having a small party at her house.

Braucher hasn’t made many plans for her winnings, but she does intend to use the money to remodel her kitchen and buy a more comfortable vehicle for her disabled husband.

“My son Steve also plays the lottery and he always told me that we were going to win big,” said Braucher. “You just never know. This can happen to anyone. If you don’t try, you can’t win!”

The $250 Million Millionaire’s Club ticket sells for $10 with 30 $1 million top prizes. Braucher is the game’s eleventh big winner.

Minuetman Citgo, located at 402 W Plainfield in Darien, IL will receive 1 percent of the top prize, or $10,000, for selling the winning ticket.