While many regard Friday the 13th as a day to be wary, Mariette Cleven of Oromocto, N.B. has always believed it to be a day of positivity. This proved to be true when Cleven purchased and scratched a Set for Life ticket on Friday, Dec. 13 that resulted in a top-prize win.

“That night, I was talking to my brother on the phone, scratching the tickets I had bought, and he told me he never wins anything more than a couple of dollars when he buys tickets,” Cleven said. “I barely got off the phone with him and there it was: ‘Set for Life.’”

In utter disbelief, Cleven immediately sent a photo to her daughter and brother to share the news of her big win.

Atlantic Lottery’s Set for Life is a $4 Scratch’N Win ticket that offers two options for the top prize. Winners can choose to receive $1,000 a week for 25 years, or a lump sum payment of $675,000. Cleven opted to receive the lump sum.

“I think I’m still feeling a little overwhelmed,” Cleven said. “We never really had much, so I’ve been feeling overwhelmed thinking, ‘Oh my gosh, all this money is going to be coming in.’”

Plans for her winnings include paying for her daughter to go to medical school, and for her son’s education, as he is also planning to attend school in the fall. There are also plans in the works for a few trips, with the Magdalen Islands, Iceland and the Netherlands to visit family there, topping the list of destinations. Cleven, who works as a nurse, says she still plans to work but may now choose to retire a few years earlier than originally planned.

“I was a single parent for a really long time and things were rough for a long time,” Cleven said. “The first half of my life I thought was hard, but the next half is going to be really good.”

Cleven purchased her winning Set for Life ticket at Oromocto Plaza Lotto Booth in Oromocto, N.B. The seller will receive a one per cent seller’s prize.