Sheinelle Jones, 47, shed tears during an emotional interview with her fellow Today show co-host, Savannah Guthrie, about Jones’ late husband.
Jones’ husband of 17 years, Uche Ojeh, 45, died in May after battling glioblastoma, an aggressive form of brain cancer. Jones stepped away from the Today show in December to deal with what she called at the time a “family health matter.”
Now, Jones has opened up about the “beautiful nightmare” she was living as she took care of her dying husband. Jones shared how her children, her faith, and her desire to turn grief into gratitude helped her continue.
“You did that, you honored your husband, you were a warrior for your husband,” Guthrie, 53, said, “You never lost that light in your eyes.”
Jones said she would always question herself why he got sick so young, but grew to see his sickness as part of their shared fate, as part of God’s plan.
“In the midst of these questions, there’s still that piece that it was meant to be. And I would look at him and I would say ‘I would do this all over again,’” Jones said, wiping tears from her cheeks.
“You fought the good fight,” Guthrie said, her own eyes growing glassy.
Jones and Ojeh met in college at Northwestern University. He was 17 and she was 19. They would spend long stretches in her dorm room talking over cereal before lapsing into silence as they watched the beautiful clock tower outside her window, Jones recalled.
“And fast forward almost 30 years, and I’m sitting in this beautiful hospital room,” Jones said, “We were looking at this beautiful view of New York City. Here we are again, not talking. And I remember staring out the window, and I’m, like, ‘Oh my God. It’s like this crazy, full-circle moment.’”
“It felt scary, it felt divine, it felt bigger than us,” Jones mused.
Jones told Guthrie, 53, that she is trying to “move forward” after Ojeh’s death.
“I always wanted kids, and I have three kids of my own now, and they’ve lost their dad, and I’m their mom. It sucks,” Jones confided to Guthrie. “I feel a little pressure. I can’t be your dad. I can be the best mom I can be.”
Jones and Ojeh had three kids together: Kayin, 16, and 13-year-old twins Clara and Uche.
“One of my kids said, ‘I used to cry a lot. But now, I think of dad and I smile,’” Jones said, adding, “God, I hope I can get to that place.”
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