The Aunt Adele and the Connecticut Lottery Story

                                                    
                                              The Aunt Adele and the Connecticut Lottery Story

                                                                             1966 
                                                        Written 1//2011 Re-written 1/2019   
                                              Written with assistance from her son, Allen Nelson                                                                                         
                                                                       Howard Yasgar


      All her life, my Aunt Adele was a hard working Practical Nurse.
      Her  husband was Jim Nelson a merchant seaman and machinist, in 1941 they had a son Allen. 
      Allen was two years younger than I was.      
      Around 1957, two weeks before Allen’s upcoming wedding, his father, who was an Alcoholic, fell down a flight of stairs and died, and my aunt Adele became a widow.
      Around 1961 and 1962, my aunt Adele was living in an apartment on York Street, in New Haven, she was sill working every day as a practical nurse.
     We heard through the family grapevine  that Adele had now taken up living with another alcoholic
fellow named Carol.
     The rumor was that Carol, was an alcoholic that was somewhat bedridden, and he was always attended to by Adele.
     We also heard that Adele was now doing a bit of drinking herself.
     That’s when my mother became very concerned for her sister. 
     Adele would call my mother several times a week and have a somewhat alcoholic conversation with her. 
     If I happened to be there when Adele called, my mother would hold the telephone receiver away from her ear and say to me, “Your aunt Adel is celebrating”.  That was my mothers code word when Adele was drunk.
     The rumor in the family was that as soon as my aunt went to work, her bedridden boyfriend, would hop out of bed, and hit the local tavern, where he would spend the day drinking with his buddies.
     When it got close to the time Adele would be returning  home from work, he would be back in bed and ready for her to cook him supper.
     Everyone in the family felt bad for Adele, they all felt that she had unfortunately gotten herself into another problematic relationship.    
     It was about that time that the state of  Connecticut  started its own lottery.
     From what I understand the lottery tickets were .50 cents each.
     Every week the winning ticket holders would receive $5000.00 and they were allowed to go to  the Capitol Hartford Connecticut and draw a ticket for one Million dollars.
     Every week, Adele diligently would buy two lottery tickets for .50 cents each.
     She purchased one ticket for Carol, and one for herself, putting both tickets in her purse.
     As luck would have it, one of Adel's ticket numbers was drawn, awarding her $5000.00 in cash, which entitled her to go to Hartford Connecticut for the million dollar drawing. 
     Adele went to Hartford, and she drew the million dollar winning number.
    What could be nicer, everyone was so happy, this hard working women, who never had an easy life, was now a millionaire.
     Adele was to get $700.00 per week tax free, for 20 years.
     Adele called both her sisters to tell them the good news.  
     My aunt  Adele, who probably never earned more than $100.00 a week, could now retire.
     The first thing she did was to buy a small home in Hamden Connecticut, it was for her and her boyfriend Carol. So they both moved to her new home in Hamden from her York Street, apartment in New Haven.
     Everyone in the family was so happy for her. No one was more deserving than Adele to win the Lottery.
     Adele’s boyfriend Carol could now order his liquor over the phone and have it delivered.
     It was then  that Adele's bedridden, boyfriend Carol asked her a question.
     He said “ Whose lottery ticket  actually won”? Was it the ticket Adele bought for Carol, or the one she bought for herself? 
     Adele really didn’t know, and what difference did it make, as she always paid for the tickets, and she was sharing everything with Carol anyway. 
     But Carol wasn’t satisfied and my aunt Adele became stricken with guilt, she couldn’t sleep nights worrying about it.
     Adele was in Connecticut, but she was calling my mother in Florida every day. She called every day, to discuss the problem she had with Carol, they would talk long distance for hours.
     Soon it got worse, Adele was taking a limo to New York and she was flying down to Miami Just to sit a couple of hours with my mother and talk. Then she would catch the next flight back to New York, she did it several times.
     It became obvious to every one that her live in boyfriend Carol was now making Adele sick with his persistent harassment over the winning ticket.
    My mother was extremely concerned, that possibly, my aunt  Adele was going to go crazy.
    Then a call came from Adele, her boyfriend Carol, had up and died.
    That meant  Adele was now free to move to Florida, and live with her sisters, which she did.
     So by 1965, all three of the Lazaroff  sisters were now living together, on Miami Beach.
     Eventually Adele met a retired electrician from New York named Al, and she moved in with him.
     Adele and Al lived together in a nice hotel room on Miami Beach, for many years. 
     My wife Katherine and I would visit them, usually when Adele's son Allen, and his wife Diana were in Miami.
     Around 2005,  Adele's health became an issue. Her son Alan brought her to an assisted living  facility in Colorado, where her health eventually returned.
     Allen reported that Adele had now taken up bike riding and joined in with all the activities at the facility.
     Adele did eventually pass away from Pancreatic Cancer in 2005.