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Woman wins $1M from scratch-off ticket

GEORGETOWN, Ky. — A holiday tradition paid off huge dividends for a Kentucky woman on Christmas Day.

Jessica Ewen, 34, of Georgetown, won $1 million on a scratch-off game, WHAS reported.

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"As soon as I saw I won, I signed it and hid it,” Ewen told the television station.

The winning ticket was part of a tradition Ewen enjoys with her her family. Every year, she, her siblings and her cousins buy Kentucky Lottery scratch-offs and hand them out as gifts, WHAS reported. On Sunday, Ewen said she put together a Saran wrap ball containing the tickets, WDRB reported.

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“We all pitch in money together for the tickets,” Ewen told WHAS. “I put together a Saran wrap ball with scratch-off tickets and other items. It’s just a lot of fun and laughs.”

The fun really began when Ewen wound up with a $25 Millionaire Jumbo Bucks ticket, the television station reported. She scratched the ticket, but kept quiet after she realized she had won the big prize.

Ewen decided to take the cash option and will clear $553,800 after taxes, WHAS reported.

The money will come in handy, since Ewen is expecting her fifth child.

“We’ll be using this money to purchase a bigger house because we’re busting at the seams,” Ewen told the television station.

Ewen also said she and her husband will start college funds for all of their children.