I gave my cousin my lottery ticket and he won $50,000.

Now my wife demands I take it back.

Here's what happened.

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We had a belated Christmas gathering last week with my extended family.

The custom for this event is that we exchange stocking stuffers, nothing over $10.

Ever since we've had this gathering, I've always bought scratch-off lottery tickets for all the

adults.

As you would expect, they're almost always trash.

But every year, we have a few hit for an extra ticket, two, five, or even $10.

One year, my uncle's ticket hit for 50 and everyone went crazy. It's always a good time. So this year, my 23-year-old cousin goes nuts.

He holds up his ticket and claims that it just hit the max jackpot of $50,000. Everyone rushes over. A couple of my uncles verify and,

yep, this kid just won $50,000. I was elated. I scooped him up in a big bear hug and

said, Merry Christmas, you lucky jerk. He was screaming and his mom was actually in tears. The whole room was excited.

It was literally one of the top 10 experiences of my life. I feel my phone vibrate in my pocket

and I pull it out to see my wife has sent a text message that says, come out to the car.

I go outside and can tell by her body language that she's ticked. She told me that

there's no way we're giving my cousin $50,000, then starts fussing at me about buying the lotto

tickets to begin with. Two things to explain. I'm not saying 50K isn't a lot of money. It's a ton.

But I'm in my mid-40s and I have a two-decade professional

career. My wife is a stay-at-home mom by choice. We drive later model cars that are all paid

for. Our retirements in the kids' college accounts are fully funded. Our only dead is the house.

...