$1 million lottery winners from Mississauga will give son ‘wedding of his dreams’
Published November 28, 2023 at 4:35 pm
Violeta and Mauro Rivera have been playing the lottery for as long as they’ve been married — and now that they’ve finally won a big prize after nearly four decades of trying, they’re going to give their son a wedding he and his soon-to-be-spouse won’t forget.
The Mississauga couple, who’ve been married and playing the lottery for 36 years, won $1 million in the Nov. 13 Pick 4 draw when their Encore numbers matched all seven of the winning numbers in exact order.
Pick 4 is their favourite lottery draw and they’ve always played Encore on their tickets as well over the years.
“I feel calm and have been enjoying every moment of this experience with my family,” Violeta shared while at the OLG Prize Centre in Toronto to pick up their winnings. “I feel peace in my heart. One of our kids has a wedding coming up; we will help them have the wedding of his dreams.”
After checking their ticket on the OLG app and discovering they had won big, Violeta said she couldn’t believe what she was seeing. She handed the ticket to her husband to take a second look.
“I was shocked and speechless. I started counting the zeros. I wanted to stay calm. I didn’t want the shock to give me a heart attack,” said Mauro.
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The Riveras then told their family, but no one believed them at first.
“They all had to come scan the ticket for themselves,” Mauro continued.
In addition to paying for a big wedding, the Mississauga couple also plan to invest for retirement and travel to explore new places around the world.
“I feel so thankful. What a blessing,” Mauro said.
The winning ticket was purchased at Kaylie’s Fashion Boutique, on South Gateway Road in Mississauga.
(Cover photo: OLG)
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