A Port Deposit woman won a big jackpot in one of the Maryland Lottery scratch-off games last week.

According to lottery officials, Barbara Cunningham came into lottery headquarters in Baltimore early on the afternoon of June 3 with a $100,000 winning scratch-off ticket clutched tightly in her hands.

Cunningham, 81, said she'd been a "nervous wreck" since confirming her win and was excited to hand the ticket over to a lottery employee.

"I can finally calm down," she said with a smile.

The married mother of five, grandmother of nine and great-grandmother of six said she bought her ticket while grocery shopping and started to scratch it off once she got in her car.

The winning ticket was purchased at Martin's Food Market in the Rising Sun Towne Center.

Lottery officials said in a press release that Cunningham realized she had a winning ticket in her hands, but was too excited to finish scratching — she rushed home and asked her husband to finish the job.

"We thought we had won $100,000 but just didn't believe it," Cunningham was quoted in the press release. "I called my daughter and asked her to come over and verify the win — we finally believed it after she checked it six times!"

Cunningham told lottery officials she was so concerned about losing the ticket that she slept with it under her pillow.

Cunningham, who was accompanied to lottery headquarters by two of her children, said the money will be helpful to her and her husband, especially because her husband, a Navy veteran, suffers from emphysema and needs constant care.

While most of the money will be used for expenses, Cunningham said she is looking forward to celebrating her upcoming wedding anniversary by throwing a big party for friends and family.

"We will have been married for 65 years this September," she said. "And I want to celebrate with everyone we know and love."