Orland Park, IL – During a recent trip to a local grocer, Ramzi Dababneh found an extra $20 bill in his wallet. Little did the Orland Park resident know that his luck had just begun. Ramzi decided to put the unexpected cash toward two Merry Millionaire instant tickets, which turned out to be one of the best decisions of his life.

“I won $20 off one of the tickets,” Ramzi said. “I decided to use that money to play another two tickets.” One of these tickets, it turned out, made Ramzi an instant millionaire, although it took awhile for the incredible experience to sink in. “I remained pretty calm,” Ramzi said. “It definitely took awhile for me to really comprehend what had happened. I decided to call my wife after about 10 or 15 minutes.”

After hearing how her husband turned a lucky $20 bill into $1 million, Ramzi’s wife needed convincing. “She kept asking me if I was sure. She thought I was crazy,” Ramzi said. “When she finally believed that I had won $1 million, she started screaming right in my ear.”

While turning a lucky $20 bill into $1 million might seem like an entire life’s worth of good fortune, hitting the Merry Millionaire jackpot comes as only the latest big moment in Ramzi’s Lottery-playing career. Last year, he won $1,000 on two separate occasions playing instant tickets.

“I definitely feel like a blessed person,” Ramzi said. “My wife thinks it’s a reward because I’ve always tried to do the right thing throughout my life. My children are all very happy that their parents can now relax into retirement.”

River Oaks Liquors, located at 1242 Burnham Ave. in Calumet City, Ill., will receive a 1 percent bonus, or $10,000, for selling the winning ticket.