because we re a family. they re certainly wealthy enough that they don t have to work. so i think there is going to be a huge incident tomorrow and i expect a big pushback from the religious community, as well. tom, thank you, a woman from georgia stepped forward today holding one of the winning tickets from the mega millions jackpot. ira curry picked last night s number numbers, she heard the numbers while driving, said she was in a state of disbelief when her daughter told her, the other winning ticket was sold in san jose, california, so the question we have tonight is what is it like to be an instant millionaire, two winners, with very different experiences, on the phone is terry dill who won more than three and a half million dollars when he was only 18. rick, you didn t know you won
so i think there is going to be a huge fer if you have tomorrow and i expect a big pushback from the religious community as well. tom, thank you. a woman from georgia stepped forward today holding one of the winning tickets from the mega millions jackpot. ira curry picked last night s numbers, she heard the numbers while driving, said she was in a state of disbelief when her daughter told her, the other winning ticket was sold in san jose, california, so the question we have tonight is what is it like to be an instant millionaire? tonight, two winners with have different experiences. on the phone is terry dill who won more than three and a half million dollars when he was only 18. rick, you didn t know you won the lottery right away, it actually took several months for
finally acceptance. for something like that being 18 years old, i kind of attribute it to this. try to tell an 18-year-old something is impossible. they think they know it all. trying to tell an 18-year-old that has $3 and a half million something is impossible. they re just not going to listen. had i done so things would have been a lot different. what would you do differently, terry, if you won the lottery today and the advice for somebody who wins it? you know, after the conversation with some of your people last night, i wanted it to be a message of hope of perseverence, one thing i did wrong, i pray that the winners who hear this, first thing they need to do is drop to their knees and ask the heavenly father for guidance, if you ask
we can do right, rick hit it right on the head when he said you re given the opportunity and the gift of choice. whenever you win that or if you win a jackpot, mega millions, it doesn t matter. you re given a choice, make it a blessing or a curse. no, i was just thinking about it, terry, i can t imagine at 18 being in high school and getting the 3. or $7.5 million or however much it was exactly. did people suddenly try to take advantage of you and treat you differently? not at first, i come from a small town, everybody knew me, i knew everybody. no, they didn t, they treated me just the way they always have. so i was very blessed for that opportunity. once i got out of town and started to go to college and so forth, yeah, that did happen. but whenever you receive something like that, you go through a process, just like grieving. there are three steps to grieve, the denial, the shock, and
school last year, he felt his only option was a community college. now, he has the choice to be able to attend whatever college he wants, in the united states. and for for us as a family, i guess the biggest change has been the ability to give. we were recipients of a lot of help over the last two years. and it just feels so good to be able to give back. and terry, your experience was different. you went back in 1994, the youngest lottery winner in history, what was it like for you? well, first of all, good evening, anderson. it was good, but as 18 years old, i was a senior in high school. it was an experience that not too many people get to enjoy. but you know, we ve all heard stories of the bad. what goes wrong. we have to really focus on what