It's most everyone's dream to suddenly get rich and not have to worry about the house and car payments any more. One family in Illinois was able to realize that dream when they needed it most, discovering a $4.85 million lotto ticket in their deceased daughter's cookie jar.

The Cerezo family of Geneva, Ill. has gone through some rough times lately. Last year they lost their daughter Savannah to a series of seizures that proved to be deadly. Three months earlier, a judge set a timetable for their eviction from their home.

Ricardo Cerezo said his wife was cleaning out their kitchen, and insisted that he take the Lotto tickets he had stored in a cookie jar bought by his now-deceased daughter. Reluctantly he did so, and on the last ticket he checked, the words "File A Claim" came up on the machine he was using.

Already Cerezo was excited, as he realized that that message meant he was guaranteed a prize of at least $600. Once the machine started recounting the winning numbers however, he could hardly believe what was happening.

"When I realized we had all six numbers, it was that shocking moment of 'Whoa, can this really be?' So I called my son over and asked him to double check this," Cerezo told Chicago's WGN-TV. "And he looked it through and goes, 'Yep, looks like a winner.'"he said at a news conference Wednesday. 

Needless to say, the ticket immediately changed the trajectory of Cerezo's life. First order of business? Play hooky from work, of course.

"Fast forward to the next day, Monday: Called in sick from work, went down into Chicago. It's one of those feelings where it's OK if they fire me."

Cerezo recounted how his first emotion was one of sadness that his daughter could not partake in their happiness. Soon, however, he felt convinced that Savannah was watching over the family and had delivered the ticket to them.

"It couldn't have happened at a better time," said Cerezo, a management consultant. "I just thought, this is how God works."

The Cerezo family reports that they will now being off their house and will not have to worry about eviction. They also intend on giving a fair amount of the money away to their local church and to various charities.