Betty Brantley of Four Oaks said she told her husband that he forgot to buy her a scratch-off ticket as he was about to leave the gas station – a reminder that turned into a $200,000 lottery win.

“He started to leave and I said, ‘You’re not going to buy me any scratch-off tickets?’, so he turned back around,” Brantley said.

But Brantley still would not have won if not for a special ritual of her husband.

She said he likes to buy tickets in $10 increments. After buying one $25 scratch-off ticket, he only added a $5 Mega Bucks ticket, the winning $200,000 ticket, so that his total equaled $30.

After getting the tickets from the Benson Family Fare on N.C. 210, Brantley scratched while her husband drove. She said she initially thought she won $200 before she realized it was $200,000.

“I started saying, ‘Oh my god, Oh my God.’ And he’s driving and he’s saying, ‘What? What?’” Brantley laughed. “We still haven’t wiped the smiles off our faces.”

Brantley, a 69-year-old retired state employee, said she is looked forward to spending the holidays with her three children and five grandchildren. She said she wants to get some of the money in the bank and then give each one of her kids an extra Christmas present.

“If they don’t come visit,” she joked, “they won’t get any presents.”

Brantley arrived at lottery headquarters on Monday to collect her prize and, after required federal and state tax withholdings, took home $141,501.

Ticket sales from scratch-off games make it possible for the lottery to raise more than $900 million per year for education. For details on how $13.9 million raised by the lottery made a difference in Johnston County in 2020, visit www.nclottery.com and click on the “Impact” section