Longtime Anchor Bay Schools educator Marie DeWitte went to check her Powerball tickets inside Kroger in Chesterfield Township, but the machine could not give her answers.
When she went to the counter, an employee looked up her lottery numbers and gave her the surprise of a lifetime.
"He leaned over and said 'You just won a million dollars,'" DeWitte said Monday. "I was just in total shock. They said, 'Can I get you something?' and I said 'No, I have to get my groceries home.'"
DeWitte, who serves as director of elementary education for Anchor Bay Schools and was a longtime principal at in Chesterfield Township, says she intends to keep working.
"Right now, that's nowhere in my plan," she said of quitting work. "I love what I'm doing. I love the people I work with...I've been an educator all my life."
DeWitte said she bought three easy-pick tickets, with two draws, for a total of $12, on May 23 at the on 23 Mile and returned to the store May 26 to learn she was the winner. She has already claimed her prize.
She's says she feels fortunate the money will bring more financial security, but won't drastically change her life.
"I think it's truly a blessing that I won $1 million and not $110 million," she said.
And, she has no big purchase in mind at this time.
"I don't really know what I am going to do. I think I'm just going to take my time and decide what I want to do," she said.
One thing that will not change is spending her downtime with her four children and 10 grandchildren.
"God has been very good to me in the family that I have and this has been just a blessing."
Nancy Pelshaw