by Jonathan Bullington
Tribune reporter
11:46 a.m. CDT, May 8, 2014
A Chicago man is planning a special Mother's Day for his mom after she bought a lottery ticket for him that wound up being worth $2.5 million.
Daniel Stojak, 46, of Chicago, said his mother Shirley Stojak, 77, also of Chicago, frequently buys him tickets at the Jewel-Osco in Niles where she has worked as a cashier for 15 years.
Though Shirley Stojak had won some money before playing the lottery – the most was $10,000 – this April 1 was special.
That day, she bought a $10 instant ticket and scratched it off to reveal her son had won $2.5 million.
"The whole body started to go," she said. "I couldn't stop shaking. I always dreamed it could happen, but I never thought it would happen to me."
Stojak called her son, who was coming to pick her up from work at Jewel, to give him the news.
Daniel Stojak said at first, he thought she was playing an April Fool's Day joke on him. Once it sank in, he said, he also was unnerved.
"I was a little shocked," he said. "I didn't sleep for a few days."
Daniel Stojak, who works as a project manager for a home restoration company in Lincolnwood, said his plans for the money include going on vacation, doing some home repairs and maybe getting a new car.
And, of course, planning a Mother's Day to remember.
"She's making a list, I'm sure," he said.
Daniel Stojak said he originally planned to take his mom to a riverboat to go gamble. That's still the Mother's Day plan, though the plan now also includes dinner and a diamond tennis bracelet.
"Anything I want," she said.
He chose the cash option of $1.5 million, which is before taxes are withheld. The Jewel-Osco store got a $25,000 bonus for selling the ticket.
Daniel Stojak said he offered to pay for his mom to retire.
"I told her she could quit working," he said, but "I don't think she wants to."
Shirley Stojak says, now, everyone wants her to buy tickets for them.
"She wanted to buy a ticket this morning," her son said.
jbullington@tribune.com | Twitter: @jbtribune