MURFREESBORO, Ark. \u2013 Keshia Smith has dealt with unimaginable tragedy in the past 6 months. In October, her son passed away, and her father\u2019s funeral was just a day before her planned trip from Harrisburg, Pennsylvania, to the Arkansas Crater of Diamonds State Park.<\/p>\n
With her brother and her boyfriend by her side, she started the 19-hour drive to Murfreesboro. In just her first hour of digging, she found the second-largest diamond pulled out of the park this year, though she didn\u2019t know it at the time.<\/p>\n
\u201cI noticed it was just sticking in the dirt, and I was like, wait a minute, this is too shiny. I just plucked it out with my nail and stuck it in my bag and thought nothing of it. I thought it was just a piece of quartz, I\u2019m not going to lie to you, I didn\u2019t know,\u201d said Smith.<\/p>\n
Pennsylvania mother finds 3.09-carat diamond at Crater of Diamonds State Park after losing son, father <\/a><\/p>\n It wasn\u2019t until she showed her find to the man who found the largest diamond of the year, Jack Pearadin, that she had an idea of what she had dug up.<\/p>\n \u201cI said, \u2018I need you to look at something\u2019, because Jack has a good eye and I know he\u2019s found plenty of diamonds. Exactly when he looked at it, and I saw his face, I just busted out in tears. I didn\u2019t know what I had, and he was like, you need to go up to the park, you need to go up there now,\u201d said Smith.<\/p>\n Smith dug up a 3.09-carat white diamond. She says even three weeks after she dug up the diamond, she\u2019s still in shock.<\/p>\n \u201cI can\u2019t believe it. I can sit here and look at this thing every day, and that card every day, and I still can\u2019t believe that that\u2019s what it is,\u201d said Smith.<\/p>\n Smith said she felt her son\u2019s and her father\u2019s presence throughout the entire trip.<\/p>\n \u201cI had my son\u2019s shirt on that day, I knew I was taking something of his to that park. My son has been my angel since he left this earth. I\u2019m just glad that they were there with me to guide me to where I needed to go. They let that pressure off because they knew I was a diamond in disguise, and I was under a lot of pressure, and I needed that, I really did. They showed me what to do, where to go,\u201d said Smith.<\/p>\n Smith named the diamond the Za\u2019Novia Liberty Diamond. The first half is a combination of her grandchildren\u2019s names.<\/p>\n \u201cHe has two children and his last son was just born on January 31st,\u201d Smith said. \u201cHis name is Zahari, and he has a one-year-old daughter named Nova, so that\u2019s how I got Za\u2019Novia.\u201d<\/p>\n The second half of the diamond\u2019s name is a nod to the 250th\u00a0anniversary of the formation of the United States. Liberty has personal meaning to Smith as well.<\/p>\n \u201cLiberty to me means freedom. I\u2019m free, and I feel free. All the hurt, all the pain, just a little bit is lifted, I feel free, just a little bit,\u201d said Smith.<\/p>\n Smith said finding the diamond was not a fluke; it was an act of God.<\/p>\n \u201cI prayed to ask Him, why did he take my son, why did he take my dad? You know, some things happen for a reason, not all good reasons, but this thing I prayed about and asked for, He gave me, and I\u2019m a believer. I prayed about a lot of things, I had hope about a lot of things, and I\u2019m still praying and hoping. But that\u2019s one thing, I prayed, I prepared, I planned, and I conquered,\u201d said Smith.<\/p>\n Smith said finding the diamond has reinforced her faith and is hoping her story inspires others who have lost loved ones.<\/p>\n \u201cI\u2019m going to roll with that little mustard seed of faith and hope, and that little bit of freedom that he just gave me and just hope that someone else hears this story and just feels my pain and just feels that little bit of freedom that I just got. So, if you have faith, stick with it no matter what, \u00a0and that\u2019s what I want people to know,\u201d said Smith.<\/p>\n