JOINT BASE ANDREWS, Md. –
Many people ponder the question, "what would I do if I had a million dollars?" For two
Joint Base Andrews Airmen, that question is one they will now have to answer.
During a baseball game at Nationals Park on July 5, Staff Sgt. Timothy Ruch, 11th Wing Command Post Status of Resources and Training System manager, found himself with an extra $20 and decided to take a chance on a scratch ticket. Little did he know, that scratch ticket would change his life.
"When I first saw that I won $1 million, I was in shock," Sergeant Ruch said. "I dropped down and kissed the ground where I was standing."
Sergeant Ruch said that the first thing he did after winning was call his wife to tell her
what had happened.
"I didn't really believe him at first when he called me," said Senior Airman Emily Ruch, 11th WG/CP senior controller. "He'snot the kind of person who would usually joke about something like this, but it was really hard to believe. When he finally got home, I looked at the ticket and it was a winner."
Later that evening, Ruch decided to call his parents and give them the good news.
"When I called my parents, it was between 11:30 p.m. and midnight," he said. "I spoke to my mom and told her to tell my dad, and the first thing he said was, 'That's great, can I go back to sleep now?' "
Even though his family thought he was joking at first, the reality of the situation was even harder for Sergeant Ruch and his wife to believe.
"The first few days, I couldn't help but double-check the scratcher about 15 times a day," he said. "After calling the lottery ticket office, it took a couple of days to go down, and get it validated and it didn't seem real until we did."
The Ruchs needed to keep their winning a secret until the lottery company was ready to release the details. The only people they told were close family members.
"The hardest part has been not telling our friends and coworkers. Up until the lottery company releases the information about our winning, we needed to keep it pretty quiet."
Sergeant Ruch added that he and his wife are doing what they can to be responsible with their earnings from the lottery.
"We have been working with a financial adviser to plan for our future with the money," he said. "They were able to give us some very good advice. We plan on putting about half of it in savings and investments, put a little extra on the house we are buying and put some into savings for college for our nieces and nephews."
Figuring out what to do with the money was just one of many questions they needed to answer, Ruch said.
"I have approximately two years left on my enlistment and I'm not exactly sure what I plan to do, but for now nothing has changed," Ruch said. "I'll still keep serving my country like I always have and no matter what I decide in two years, I still plan on serving in some capacity."