Sheinelle Jones’ Kids Were ‘Miserable’ On First Trip After Her Husband’s Death

Sheinelle Jones made her return to the Today show on Friday, but only after some precious family time following the death of her husband Uche Ojeh.

During Today’s third hour on Sept. 5, the journalist, 47, opened up about the first trip she took with her three kids since Ojeh died in May after a brain cancer diagnosis. 

“As soon as school was out, I thought, ‘Okay, you know what, we haven’t been able to travel, we’ve been in hospice. I’m gonna plan some amazing trip. I’m booking Miami, we’re going to be on the beach,” Jones told her co-hosts Al Roker, Craig Melvin and Dylan Dreyer. 

But things didn’t go as planned. Jones’ children — son Kayin, 15, and fraternal twins Clara and Uche, 13 — weren’t able to enjoy their time. 

“We got there and I’ll tell you they were miserable,” she explained. “There were days they didn’t want to leave the hotel room.”

The boys, who would normally be interested in surfing or kicking a soccer ball on the beach, weren’t as active as normal.

“I just realized in that moment, like, ‘Oh my god, even just traveling is hard.’ Even just getting on an airplane and not having [Ojeh] be the last one on because he found the cheapest parking lot,” she said, followed with a laugh. 

When the family travelled back to New York City, they decided together they wanted a “redo.” 

“So what do you do if you can’t do the beach in Miami? You go to New Jersey,” Jones said.

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Together the family of four visited a water park in the neighboring state and “had the best time.” In Jones’ full sitdown interview with Savannah Guthrie, she opened up about spending time together as a “unit.” 

“We were there when it opened and when it would close we didn’t want to leave,” she said. “We did all the rides and we would look for grass where there could be four people. I was like, ‘We’re a unit, you know, it’s us.’ ”

She added: “Those moments, it’s a beautiful thing. I look at them and we know we’re going to be okay. But I would be lying to you if I didn’t tell you there’s this huge hole in our lives, in our hearts and it’s just trying to learn how to walk and breathe with that. It’s tough.”

Despite the grief, Jones said her kids are finding bright spots following their summer trips and time together. 

“The other night, Clara said, ‘We’ve had a great summer,’ ” Jones said of her daughter during the 3rd Hour of Today. “I asked my little guy, I said, ‘How are you doing? Are you okay?’ And he said, ‘You know, I used to think of Dad and I would just cry. I’d cry at school.’ He goes, ‘Now I think of Dad and I smile.’ And I thought, ‘They’re gonna be okay.’ ”