It’s been more than 24 hours since Abington residents Christopher and Jessica Smith found out they have won $1 million and they’re still processing it all.
“I am still shocked,” Jessica Smith told Abington News Thursday. “It was, is the most wild and surreal experience of our lives.”
The Smiths are the latest million dollar winners in the Publisher’s Clearinghouse Sweepstakes, the venerable nationwide marketing contest. Representatives from the organization’s Prize Patrol showed up on the Smiths’ door Wednesday afternoon with balloons, a giant check, and camera crews in tow to record the family’s surprised reaction.
Abington Community Access & Media also captured the moment when the Smiths found out.
“Oh my god!” exclaimed Smith, a special educator in Whitman, while standing in the doorway of her home.
Christopher Smith arrived home from his job at General Electric’s Lynn facility a few minutes later.
“Yes! Yes!,” he shouted standing on his front steps, pumping his fists in the air.
The Smiths moved to Abington in 2015 — “We’ve very happy here,” she said — and have two children, a 1st grader at Beaver Brook Elementary School and a 2-year-old.
As for the money, she said they’re not yet sure how they’re spend their new windfall.
“I actually wish we had an answer for this,” Smith said. “Paying down debt is first. From there? We aren’t sure.”