Dec. 10 (UPI) -- A Maryland man said he owes his $50,000 lottery jackpot to something that otherwise would have seemed like bad luck: his kids missing the school bus.
Kevin Fenwick, 58, of Baltimore, told Maryland Lottery officials he usually buys scratch-off tickets from the same store on the way to work each day, but he had to take a different route recently when his kids missed the school bus.
"I dropped the kids off and made my way to work, keeping an eye out for a store that sold tickets," Fenwick said.
He said he ended up stopping at Edgewood Liquors.
"I knew exactly which game to look for," he said.
The ticket, a $5 Holiday Cash scratch-off, ended up being a $50,000 top prize winner.
"When I saw the $50,000, I couldn't believe it was real. I got up and walked around the house and sat back down in front of the ticket. The $50,000 was still there." Fenwick said.
He said he called his wife to tell her the good news, but she thought it was a joke.
"I've been known to joke about big lottery wins in the past," Fenwick said. "I had one devil of a time convincing her that this one was real."
Fenwick said the jackpot will be a big help.
"We have several significant projects that we've gotten started but just haven't been able to finish for financial reasons. Now we can, and that will let us move on to the next thing," he said.
