While waiting for her husband to join her after work, a Fort Washington woman decided to pass the time with one of her favorite hobbies – playing Maryland Lottery scratch-offs.

Her husband arrived at the nearby Stop 4 All convenience store just in time to advise her to select the Super Crossword ticket from among the many games available. He then escorted her – and that Lottery scratch-off they’d soon learn was worth $100,000 – home for the evening. Their winning results will enable them to help members of their extended families. Many of them still live in the couple’s native Philippines.

“We’ve been very fortunate and some of our loved ones need help,” said the 46-year-old winner. “I’m so glad that we’ll be able to now.”

Their journey to claim the top prize on the Super Crossword game took the couple first to a Lottery retailer, then to the Lottery’s Lanham facility and finally to Lottery headquarters in Baltimore.

“We were convinced that it was a $1,000 win,” said the winner, who works as a government contractor. “I got very excited.” The two headed immediately to a nearby Lottery retailer. “They told us that they didn’t know how much the ticket was worth, but it was too big for them to cash.”

Directed to claim the prize at the Lottery’s Lanham facility, the pair studied their Super Crossword ticket more closely. “While we were driving there, we figured out that the prize must be $10,000. To go from winning $1,000 to winning $10,000 in a just few minutes was overwhelming,” the happy woman said.

They learned their scratch-off was actually worth $100,000 at the Lanham facility, but were told they must claim that size prize at Lottery headquarters in Baltimore. “We were confused at first, but when the Lottery official said the words ‘$100,000,’ I started crying,” the Prince George’s County woman said.

The good folks at Stop 4 All, located at 7713 Allentown Road in Fort Washington, get to celebrate, too. The Lottery will give the store a $1,000 bonus for selling the top-prize ticket in the $10 game. Players can still find plenty of prizes remaining on the Super Crossword instant ticket, including one more $100,000 top prize, eight $10,000 prizes and thousands of others ranging from $10 to $1,000.