Pamela Riberdy said she plans to keep things the same despite being $3 million richer following a win with the New York State Lottery.
I like my life. I like my jobs and the people in my life, and I’d like things to stay the same, she said.
Riberdy won the $3 million while playing the lottery’s New York Millions instant game. She purchased the ticket from a Stewart’s shop on Route 9 while buying tickets for her dad for Father’s Day.
A single mother of three, the Latham resident had been working four jobs until two months ago. Before winning the money, she worked for J. Becker and Sons in Menands, helped at her dad’s business, Riberdy Diesel Service and worked weekends at the Times Union.
`I’m going to keep my regular day job and work for my dad of course,` Riberdy said. `I do have a really great job at the Times Union; they have been very good to me, but that’s a weekend job. I think I might like to have weekends off for the first time in quite a few years.`
Riberdy said she hasn’t had much time to think about what to do with her winnings, because her 17-year-old daughter just graduated from Shaker High School and her 20-year-old son’s birthday is coming up. Riberdy also has an older son who is 21.
`I want to fix up my house and take the children on vacation, and considering that people have been good to me my whole life, I want to give back,` she said.
Riberdy said she wants to give some of the money to charity, probably one that supports children or animal causes.
She said she would also like to buy a vacation home on a lake so her family has a place to get together.
Riberdy said her three children are excited about their mother’s winnings.
`They are excited of course, and it’s fun to talk about the possibilities,` she said.
None of Riberdy’s jobs has allowed her to save for her future or her children’s.
`I’ve never had retirement anywhere so I’m going to start putting away money for the kids so their futures are secure,` she said.
Wes Atkinson, Riberdy’s co-worker at J. Becker and Sons, said Riberdy definitely deserved to win the money, and he isn’t surprised she isn’t planning any drastic changes.
`She definitely deserves the money; she has been working four jobs for years,` he said. `It seems normal that she’d want to keep things the same. That is what I expected.`
Said Riberdy of the experience, `It’s one of those moments I keep trying to relive, and it’s just gone. It was nice that it was on Father’s Day, and, like I said, I just don’t want people to treat me differently. I want life to go on.`
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