Husband, wife win $1 million prizes in separate contests just months apart

Jane and Robert Goodwin. (Photo credit: Massachusetts State Lottery)

Jane and Robert Goodwin. (Photo credit: Massachusetts State Lottery)

Imagine finding gold at the end of a rainbow — twice. That's how lucky a Massachusetts couple has found themselves over the last few months.

Robert Goodwin won a $1 million jackpot after scratching off a $5 instant lottery ticketthe Massachusetts State Lottery announced Monday. Anyone would be astonished at his good fortune, but for Goodwin and his wife, this wasn't their first rodeo.

Back in August, Jane Goodwin won a $1 million prize in the Publisher's Clearing House sweepstakes.

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Robert Goodwin is taking his winnings home in a lump sum, which will leave him with $650,000 in his pocket — definitely nothing to scoff at.

The couple is planning on combining their earnings to buy a home in a retirement community. Their reason?

“No more shoveling,” said Robert Goodwin.

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Just last week, a New Jersey woman found out she'd be taking home a staggering $5 million after finally checking the numbers on a scratch-off lottery ticket she accidentally purchased two weeks ago.

Oksana Zaharov, 46, meant to buy a $1 scratch-off ticket while she was shopping in New York City, but she was mistakenly issued a $10 one by the clerk instead. Even though she went ahead a bought it anyway, she waited a full two weeks to check it.

"When the clerk handed me the wrong ticket I felt bad, so I decided to just go ahead and buy it," she said on Tuesday, according to a Fox News report. "I actually used the ticket as a bookmark for a couple weeks before I decided to scratch it."

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She plans on setting her winnings aside for her children's college plans, but before then, a family vacation to the Bahamas is on the horizon.

“I never win anything,” Zaharov said. “I was sure the ticket was fake. It wasn’t until I brought it into the office that I knew it was for real.”