Eighty-four year old woman wins eight million dollars in the lottery! That would be me..

NOT,  even in my dreams. But we were thinking about what we would do with eight million dollars, an unexpected boon. It reminds me of that game kids play about what they would do with a million . They want fancy cars, a mansion with ten bedrooms, and then they cannot think of anything else.

A few years ago we came into an unexpected million dollars. Yikes! Then, as now, we were prosperous enough, frugal in our ways. What to do with this windfall? Early on we decided that we needed none of it. We gave modest amounts to our kids, young adults struggling with mortgages, school tuitions, loans and all the stuff one needs money for at that age.

We did not ask them in particular what they did with this money. The rest was fun to play with. We contributed to new arts and science buildings at local colleges, we funded a program for minorities in grad school, we gave a lot to the Nature Conservancy and to a journalism school. It seemed easy to divest ourselves of a measly million.

But eight million! A different deal entirely! My partner points out that our elite athletes have this kind of money annually - and we see what dismal choices they usually make.

I think that you could go the way of Joan Krock of the McDonalds fortune who gave so much to NPR, and threw them a lifeline when they most needed it. The Gates Foundation is trying so much in third world countries to eradicate malaria and bring health to African nations that are so needy. Gates also funds so much in education in this country. Of course they have way more than a paltry eight million.

But here is an eighty-four year old woman who shops in the same Zephyhrills Publix we do. She did go and get a lottery ticket there. We know that. And what is she going to do with it?

Of course she could just shift the most of it over to her church, after giving each of her kids mansions and jaguars and enduring the pleas from all her relatives who come out of the woodwork with hands out. She'll get out of that wretched trailer home in Zephyrhills and move into the house of her dreams, as she deserves.

But maybe this woman is possessed of energy and creativity and will put the most of this money into something magnificent and lasting. She could fund music and arts programs in every school in the county, she could start a sustainable program in which every child born in Pasco County would have a mentor for the family, making sure that the child would be well nourished and have books and language at an early age and a chance at the brass ring. She could fund incredible child care centers. She could make a huge donation to the Boys and Girls Club. And so much else!

Fun to think about. And will we ever know what happened?

What would YOU do with this windfall of eight million dollars? Let me know and I will publish your thoughts.

Who could ask for anything more than a wonderful family?