There is something to be said about someone making a promise and then keeping it, especially when nobody was watching.
It is when nobody is around that you get to see how someone really is and what they are going to agree to and hold up their end of the bargain.
Money divides a lot of people. Hell, you take a family that is supposed to get ten thousand dollars and you will see them fighting each other over how big of a share they are going to get from another person.
When true friends make a pact, they follow through with it, no matter how difficult or impossible it might seem.
In 1992, two genuine friends made a deal: Joseph Feeney and Thomas Cook decided that if either one of them ever won the Powerball jackpot, they’d split it with the other. They shook on it.
They bought tickets often, but they didn’t expect to win.
Many people like to daydream about what they’d do if they won the lottery, but Cook knew exactly what to do when he won the $22 million in the June 10 drawing. He called Feeney.
“He called me and I said, ‘are you jerking my bobber?’” Feeney told the Wisconsin Lottery.
Feeney, who has spent much of his retirement fishing, formerly worked at a fire department. Cook, realizing what his winnings meant, promptly submitted his two-weeks notice.
“Congratulations to Tom, Joe, and their families,” Wisconsin Lottery Director Cindy Polzin said. “The power of friendship and a handshake has paid off. I’m thrilled for them—their lucky day has arrived!”
The win came as a shock to Cook, who handed the ticket off to his wife when the numbers started matching up.
“It was quite an experience when I read them first two, three numbers and I kinda froze and handed them to her, and she froze,” he explained in a Wisconsin Lottery video, laughing.
Cook and Feeney plan to travel more, thanks to this financial windfall. The two couples have traveled together in the past, and they plan on traveling together again — but in higher style.