I won!!!

I never buy lottery tickets.

It's not because I have a moral compass that tells me gambling is just throwing money down the drain. (Okay, there is that.)

But, if I'm honest with myself, I don't buy lottery tickets, raffle tickets, or any tickets having to do with drawing my name/numbers out of a hat because I never win. Ever!

No, wait. That is not entirely true. There was that one time….

It was graduation night. And on graduation night, in order to keep kids from drinking and getting pregnant...it was a problem...they would open up the spa for all Seniors and to have a place to be that was both safe and fun. Swimming pool, racquetball courts, basketball courts, food courts. It even had a skating rink. Yeah. I know. Our spa was classy.

Well, all the Seniors' names were placed in a drawing and every hour two gifts would be given away. Some of the prizes were money. Others were gift certificates (gift cards hadn't been invented yet) for stores or restaurants. There were several small appliances and things that any college freshmen could use. But you had to be there to claim your prize. No-one could claim it for you.

I stayed there...all night. Partly because it was THE spa and I had never been inside. (Remember…skating rink!!!) But also because hey, as fun as teenage pregnancy sounded, I wanted a prize, dang it!!

One hour went by and my name wasn't called. Two hours….nothing. Three…four…five…Nada.

Then finally, in the last hour, in the wee hours of the morning, I heard my name being called over the speaker…."Stefanie. Stefanie. Please come claim your prize."

Yeah!! Finally I had won something. Someone had pulled my name out of the hat. Me. I had won!! But what? What had I won?

$200 cash?? $50 gift certificate to Wal-Mart. (Target wasn't invented yet.) All you can eat breakfast at Village Inn???

Something better than all of that…..

A sandwich grill!

Way better than getting pregnant.