The stuff of dreams …

UPDATE: A single winning ticket for the nearly $1.3 billion MegaMillions prize was purchased in Des Plaines, Illinois, at a Speedway convenience/gas station. Twenty people (two in North Carolina) won $1 million each by matching the five 'white ball' numbers.

For most of us, it’s hard to wrap your mind around suddenly becoming a billionaire.

But that’s what will happen when some individual plunks down $2 and wakes up a day later with a ten-figure deposit, at least figuratively speaking, waiting to be claimed.

The MegaMillions lottery jackpot crept over that threshold this week which has, of course, prompted millions of people to drop by the Seven-Eleven or Quik Trip or grocery store to take a one-in-300-million shot at never having to worry about money again.

Regardless how you may feel about lotteries or scratch-off tickets or any form of legalized gambling, you have to admit that, especially in the times we’re in, it affords a little bit of escapism, right?

Scores of folks are dreaming right now what they’d do with such a windfall.

Naturally, none of your family members would ever want for anything again, and probably a few close friends would benefit from your generosity.

And there are those who’d buy that fancy car they’ve dreamed about and tool around in old neighborhoods to show it off.

A breathtaking mansion likely populates some of your dreams, perhaps a beach or mountain or exotic island getaway, that kind of thing.

Anybody you talk to would likely have some kind of plan, however silly, regardless of the miniscule odds of winning even just a few dollars in any of these games.

I’d be lying if I said I never thought about it, though I’m honestly not a big fan of any of these kinds of games because I think, for the most part, they prey on the poor.

Still, when the payoffs reach ridiculous amounts and if I have a couple of bucks in my pocket, what the heck.

And the natural follow-up to such a purchase absolutely has to be thoughts of what you’d do with the money.

Like a majority of the folks who talk about it around a cup of coffee or a Slushie at the convenience store, I’d do everything I could to give it all away before my time ran out on this weary planet.

A billion-dollar prize would net you somewhere in the neighborhood of half a billion after all the tax grabs, which ain’t bad.

You can bet that my preferred charities would benefit greatly. The Shriners Children’s hospitals, St. Jude, the Alzheimer’s Foundation and the Salvation Army, to name a few.

I’d do everything within my power to help the homeless and you can absolutely bet that, if the prize were mine, there’d be no starving children anywhere if I had anything to do about it.

I’m not that big on fancy cars, though I’d love to have maybe a nice old classic set of wheels to play with.

As for mansions, I firmly believe it’s pretty ridiculous to have some 54-room symbol of excess if only one or two people will live in it.

The idea of a nice little getaway by the sea or in the mountains would be nice, especially if you end up having to hide from all the new ‘friends’ you’d have when the word got out.

Hey, I’m not so na?ve to think I’d even have a chance in this thing, but the fact is if you don’t buy a ticket, you can’t win it.

So what the heck. If just for a little while, it’s the stuff dreams are made of…