Million-Dollar Moments

The Publisher's Clearing House Prize Patrol has been surprising Americans across the country for 20 years. Stephanie Gornichec, the most recent winner, had just lost her job, was on the verge of bankruptcy and had a home in foreclosure when her doorbell rang. The million-dollar check changed her life forever. "We didn't know what we were going to do," she says. "We were starting to look for a new place to live."

Stephanie's husband, Shaun, says the relief was overwhelming. "It was extremely emotional. Just the stress we've been going through the past year when she was laid off from her job and I had to pick up extra hours to make ends meet," he says. "To hear this knock on the door, the sense of relief was just so awesome."