How an Arkansas Lottery Winner Made $50,000 Worth of Memories
Phyllis, Little Rock | $50,000 Powerball® Winner

On a Sunday morning in 2011, Phyllis Thomas and her husband checked the paper as they normally do for Saturday's winning Powerball® numbers. 

When a few numbers from Phyllis' ticket matched, they didn't believe what they saw, so they immediately went to their local EZ-Mart in Little Rock to check. To their joy and amazement, they were holding a $50,000 winning ticket!
 
When Phyllis cashed in that $50,000 winning Powerball® ticket on Monday, the first thing she did was make a down payment on a new car and put some back in savings.
 
But what she did next was incredible. Around the time of the win, Phyllis' husband had been diagnosed with Alzheimer's disease. From then on, Phyllis knew exactly what she wanted to do with her prize: make memories with her husband through travel.
 
Together, they took two Caribbean cruises with their family where they visited beautiful places like Cozumel, Montego Bay, Honduras, Roatan and Belize. They traveled to Key West and Centerville, Florida, and enjoyed plenty of beach time.
 
They also spent wedding anniversaries and special occasions on frequent trips to Branson, Eureka Springs, and the Mississippi Gulf Coast.
 
Phyllis is now her husband's full-time caretaker, and they enjoy looking at photos from past trips. She says that winning "gave us some time together to make memories before all of them were gone."
 
For Phyllis, winning Powerball® gave her the ability to experience precious, happy moments at a time when both she and her husband needed it most. #ThisIsWinning