A trip to the store to purchase a Thanksgiving turkey led an Oakland County woman to winning $4 million playing the Michigan Lottery’s VIP Millions instant game.

The lucky 49-year-old player, who chose to remain anonymous, bought her winning ticket at the Kroger store, located at 1237 North Coolidge Highway in Troy.

“It was the day before Thanksgiving, and my husband asked if I could run to the store and buy a turkey since he didn’t have time to,” said the player. “After going back and forth about who was going to go to the store since we were both busy, I agreed to. I purchased the turkey and then stopped and bought a VIP Millions ticket on my way out.

“When I got home and scratched the ticket, I saw I’d matched one of my numbers, but I didn’t scratch the winning amount. I logged in to the Lottery app and scanned the ticket on the app scanner. When confetti came up on the screen showing I’d won $4 million, I started shaking and felt like I couldn’t breathe. My family thought I was having a heart attack!

“I’m so glad that I ended up going to the store, because if my husband would have gone, we wouldn’t be here claiming a $4 million prize!”

The player visited Lottery headquarters recently to claim her prize. She chose to receive her prize as a one-time lump sum payment of about $2.7 million rather than 30 annuity payments for the full amount. With her winnings, she plans to pay bills, complete some home renovations, and then save the remainder for retirement.

Players have won more than $58 million playing VIP Millions which launched in June. Each $30 ticket offers players a chance to win prizes ranging from $30 up to $4 million. More than $106 million in prizes remain, including two $4 million top prizes and 147 $5,000 prizes.

In 2021, Lottery players won more than $1.8 billion playing instant games.