PERRY HALL, MD—A trip to a Weis Markets store in Perry Hall to buy deli ham for one of his son’s lunches led to a $100,000 Maryland Lottery win that will put a big dent in the son’s anticipated college tuition.

“A $10 ticket pays for college,” said Matthew, the father of sons ages 15 and 9.

Then, he paused briefly and noted he and his wife have already squirreled away some funds for college. The scratch-off win will also help with “a trip to Greece coming up for my wife’s birthday,” he said.

Matthew reported being eager to tell his story of winning “because I want everyone to feel like I feel.” He went on to say he felt “Shocked at first. Blessed. Lucky.”

While picking up his deli order at the Weis Markets at 9400 Scott Moore Way, he had decided to buy a scratch-off and initially focused on finding a specific $10 game. That instant ticket, however, wasn’t available so he went with a $10 Gold X50 game and won its $100,000 top prize.

A regular player, he went back and looked at the game’s remaining prizes chart online and noticed his prize was the second-to-last of 10 prizes at the $100,000 level. A self-described “numbers guy,” he said that doesn’t make any difference in winning. It was just a matter of good luck.

“I look at it as a blessing,” he said.

The stroke of luck came a few days prior to his July 7 claim date, but he decided to make the claim because the date has personal significance. It is the anniversary of his mother’s death and he wants to have a positive and happy memory to go along with the sad memory of his mom’s passing.

The happy dad concluded his story by saying, “This is awesome.”