Amy and Tom McCauley were working full time
and living paycheck to paycheck, like so
many of you who are watching.
She was driving a bus.
He was building cabinets.
And then one day, she went to the store.
AMY MCCAULEY: I told my husband I was going down for milk.
We didn't have much cash.
I went and raided the piggy bank.
We had a roll of quarters.
OPRAH WINFREY: Amy took $10 in change
and went to the convenience store,
but she didn't buy the milk.
Instead, she made a decision that would change
the course of their lives.
AMY MCCAULEY: I thought, I'm just going to buy some lottery
tickets and see what happens.
OPRAH WINFREY: That evening, Amy checked her numbers.
AMY MCCAULEY: Had the phone number to the lottery office.
And you can listen to the numbers on the phone.
And I wrote them down, and I started checking them.
And I started getting closer and closer and closer.
Then when I got to that final number, I went, oh, my god.
I thought I was going to die.
I started screaming.
My neighbors heard it, and they came running over.
I must have checked my numbers 20 times.
I slept with the ticket under my pillow.
And I don't think I slept much that night.
It's an unbelievable feeling to win that much money.
I thought, I'm set for life.
Of course, you would think that you would be set for life.
That winning lottery ticket was worth 15 and a half
million dollars.
The money would be paid out annually
over a 20-year period--
$487,000 after taxes per year.
Enough money, Amy thought, to solve all of their problems.
So take a look.
At first, Tom and Amy quit their jobs and started spending.
We just bought whatever we wanted.
OPRAH WINFREY: Cars, boats, a big new house.
AMY MCCAULEY: We went on big sprees.
It's amazing how fast that money can go.
OPRAH WINFREY: They took expensive trips,
each costing thousands.
AMY MCCAULEY: We've been to Ireland.
We've been to Hawaii.
We've been to Alaska.
We have a timeshare in Cancun.
OPRAH WINFREY: Word spread of their newfound success.
And suddenly, it seemed everybody had their hand out.
AMY MCCAULEY: We had friends coming out of the woodwork.
Can you lend me $5,000?
I'm in trouble here.
Can you lend me $4,000?
I'm in trouble.
Family always needs money.
I gave each of my brothers $30,000.
OPRAH WINFREY: Amy estimates she's given away almost
$1 million over the years.
A few of our friends said let's milk it for as long
as we can.
I've been hurt many times by people
that I thought were friends.
I just have a problem with saying no.
I'm terrible.
I just cannot say no.
OPRAH WINFREY: Amy and Tom eventually moved to a place
where no one knew them.
AMY MCCAULEY: A lot of my friends from New
York I do not speak to anymore.
And I have two brothers that don't talk to me anymore.
I do wish that I bought the milk sometimes.
Because I wouldn't have had the headaches that I have.
Really?
So do you wish you'd never won the money?
- Sometimes I do. - Really?
How so?
Well, I wish I was poor old Amy back in New York,
where everybody just liked me for me
and they didn't look at me with dollar signs in their eyes,
you know?
Do you wish you had handled it differently?
I do.
I wish I wouldn't have done the media thing, and gone on that,
and just, you know, kept it to myself.
Because people do come out of the woodwork.
They come out of the woodwork, you know?
And you know, as far as my family goes,
I mean, I didn't mind sharing money with them.
I wanted to do that.
But friends, I lost all my-- just about all my friends
from New York.
You did?
Yeah.
We gave them a lot of work around the house.
It was the recession.
And we thought we'd help them out.
Yeah.
So you think your biggest mistake was telling
people that you had won.
Yeah.
I would never--
I would never tell anybody again.
I would keep it to myself.
Now, I think a lot of people worry about--
I know people who make a lot of money
worry about giving their children too much.
And I've probably done that.
You know, everybody wants the best for their children,
you know.
So you know, three of my children
go to school and college.
And of course, if they needed help along the way,
I've done that.
You know, it's hard keeping your children grounded.
Yeah, because things have to have a value.
Well, Amy and her husband, Tom's,
annual lottery payouts will run out in four and a half years.
So are you prepared for what happens?
We probably should have put a lot more money away
than we have.
OPRAH WINFREY: Have you put some away?
We have.
We have some annuities that we can't touch
till my husband's 59 and 1/2.
And we have some college stuff for the kids, you know,
that we've taken care of.
How did it change your life?
I'm just plain old Amy from New York with jeans.
You know, I don't think I've changed.
I think the people around me have changed, you know?
That's what I think.
But it's made me more aware of people who
are less fortunate than I am.
OPRAH WINFREY: Well, that's a good thing.