Ask Evelyn Adams how great it was to win the lottery. She won’t give it a strong endorsement.
“Winning the lottery isn’t always what it’s cracked up to be,” Adams comments. “I won the American dream but I lost it, too. It was a very hard fall. It’s called rock bottom.”
Adams won the New Jersey Lottery in 1985 and 1986. Her total winnings were $5.4 million.
She says that the hardest part was everyone wanting some of her money. “Everybody had their hand out. I never learned one simple word in the English language: ‘No.’ I wish I had the chance to do it all over again. I’d be much smarter about it now.”
Part of her money was lost in Atlantic City slot machines. Adams admits, “I was a big time gambler. I didn’t drop a million dollars, but it was a lot of money. I made mistakes. Some I regret, some I don’t. I’m human. I can’t go back now so I just go forward, one step at a time.”