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It was an ordinary day in 2007 when everything changed for Tom Hewkin and his wife, Kathy. The middle school principal bought a lottery ticket every day for 15 years, so he didn't think anything of that morning's megabucks—until it won the couple $5.4 million in the Oregon state lottery. "To this day, it's still like a dream," Kathy says.
Since hitting the jackpot, both Tom and Kathy retired, and they've taken 15 vacations in just two years. "I want to see all 50 states. I want to go to every continent," Tom says. "That's on the bucket list." They've also paid off their mortgage, remodeled their home and splurged on a 1957 T-bird convertible.
One of their favorite things to do with the money is surprise others, they say. "When we go out to eat, usually we look around and say, 'Oh, that looks like a good couple.' And we tell the waitress we want to pick up their bill without them knowing who it is. ... I wish we had more so we could just stand out on the street and hand it out!"
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