When good fortune comes your way, some times you can't help but find the hidden meanings behind the event.
For Herman Iyoupe, it's as if his late wife was sending him a message.
Almost a year ago, his wife of 46 years passed away from lung cancer, but not before making him a promise.
"She said to me, 'You know what? I'm going to make sure you that win the lottery because every draw you say you're going to win it and every draw, people pick [on] you,'" Herman said of the conversation he had with his wife Patricia.
Herman didn't want to hear any of this sad talk, but she continued.
"She said, 'I'm going to make sure when I die,' and I said, 'Please don't say that.' She said, 'But it's going to happen.' So she said, 'When I die, I'm going to make sure that you win the lottery so they won't laugh at you anymore.'"
That's when his fortune changed.
On December 3rd the man from Nova Scotia, Canada picked up his printout as he was having his morning coffee at a local coffee shop. It was there he realized that he won the big prize.
That's when he drove to where he bought the ticket.
"I said to buddy, I said, 'I believe I won a million dollars.' And he kind of said, 'Yeah, right.' So I said, 'Nah, I'm only jokin' with you.' He went and he punched it in and the machine went crazy," said Herman.
"I think he was shocked more than ... I was."
The next set of calls he made were to his family, who had a hard time believing that he actually won the money.
"Nobody believed me until after I said, 'You don't have to believe me, but it's true,'" said Herman.
Now that he has cashed in on his big prize, he plans to quit his job as a dump truck driver and make some improvements to his home.
Is is also planning a very special trip to Montego Bay, Jamaica. His late wife always wanted to visit there, so he is going to go and spread some of her ashes.
"I think she's smiling down on me right now and glad," said Herman. "The first thing I done when I found out that I won, I said, 'Thank you, God. Will you give my wife a hug and a kiss and tell her that I love her?'"
Source: CBC