Sandy Mejia and her husband have a ritual. Each Friday evening, the Glen Allen couple goes out to dinner. Then on the way home, they stop and buy a single Virginia Lottery ticket to take home and play.

It was no different when the bought a Maximum Millions ticket at the 7-Eleven at 9523 Huron Avenue in Glen Allen – until she scratched the ticket and discovered she’d won the $1 million top prize.

“I got paralyzed and I turned white,” she told Lottery officials. “Then we did a happy dance in the kitchen.”

She had the choice of taking the full $1 million over 25 years or a one-time cash option of $564,000 before taxes. She chose the cash option. The store received a $10,000 bonus from the Virginia Lottery for selling the winning ticket.

Ms. Mejia, who works as a nurse, said she and her husband have no immediate plans.

Maximum Millions is one of dozens of Scratcher games available from the Virginia Lottery. It features prizes ranging from $20 up to $1 million. Ms. Mejia is the 11th player to claim the top prize in Maximum Millions, which means four top-prize tickets remain unclaimed.