Long Beach woman hits $1 million jackpot on lottery scratcher

A Long Beach woman announced her early retirement in February, after she had the surprise of a lifetime when she won a whopping $1 million with a lottery scratcher ticket. 

Julie Bass, who was celebrating her 25th work anniversary with a friend, was playing some scratcher tickets and not finding much success. 

"I had scratched my five-dollar ones, and I told her,' I'm not winning!' Bass told the California Lottery. "She says, 'Oh Miss Julie, you have two more back there.'"

She scratched one of her tickets, thinking that she won a free ticket. On second look she thought she won $1,000. She didn't realize how much she won until her friend's excitement. 

Bass had purchased a Triple Red 777 scratcher from the Golden Moon convenience store on Anaheim Street in Long Beach, which wound up totaling $1 million. 

The win changed the entire course of Bass' life. Instead of waiting two more years to retire, she decided to do so immediately. 

"I started my job as a clerk, and now that I'm a manager, I felt my reward was my seven promotions," she told lottery officials. "But He showed me that day, 'No, I got something else for you.' And that was a million dollars."

Though she said she doesn't feel like she's a lucky person, she does believe she's "especially blessed"

She plans on purchasing a home near her only daughter, something she had already been planning on.