LORAIN...  Paul Smith is grateful to suddenly be a quarter-million dollars richer. But at the same time, he knows he had precious little to do with it. So several times a day, tears in his eyes, he looks skyward and says thank you to his wife of 38 years, Jane, who died shortly before she could claim the money for herself.

A year ago in January, Jane Smith bought a $5 Holiday Lucky Times Ten instant ticket. She won an immediate $1,000 and entry into a Top Prize Drawing for $250,000. To her, though, it wasn’t merely an entry; it was already a winning ticket. “She was completely convinced she was going to win,” Paul remembers. “She just knew it.”

But the rules of Top Prize Drawings don’t allow the drawing until all the seeded TPD prizes in that game are claimed or the game’s validation period ends. That can sometimes be a lengthy process. “She knew she was going to win it, but she just couldn’t hold on long enough,” Paul said recently, after making the claim on Jane’s winnings. “She kept telling me, `The Lottery better have that drawing pretty soon, because I don’t know how much longer I can hang on.’”

About six weeks before the drawing took place, Jane succumbed to a 16-year fight with breast cancer. So Paul came to the Lorain Regional Office to make the claim for her, and Bill Laubenthal, Jane’s brother, came along for support. When they saw the oversized check - made out to Jane M. Smith for $250,000 - they were overcome. Through tears, Paul choked out quietly, “I just wish she was here to see this.”

He remembered the last coherent conversation he had with his wife, during which Jane told him, “You’ll be ok. I guarantee it; I know you will be ok.” Paul said he will use the money to pay medical bills, and to pay off his house in North Ridgeville. He and Jane pre-decided that he will share the money with their five children so all can invest.

“I wish Jane was here to enjoy it, because she’d really get a thrill out of this,” Bill said. “I just feel bad that she’s not here to accept this. Well … maybe she is here in spirit. Where she’s at, money doesn’t count. It’s just an earthly thing.”

“But this,” Paul said, gesturing to the check, “this is a gift straight from Heaven.”