‘Today’ Co-Host Sheinelle Jones Cries Reading Heartfelt Fan Mail

Sheinelle Jones is still feeling the love from TODAY fans months after the death of her husband, Uche Ojeh, due to cancer.

Jones took to her Instagram Story on Tuesday to share a photo of herself crying after reading heartfelt fan mail she had received since her return to the NBC morning show in September.

“I read your beautiful cards and letters until my tears say it’s time to give it a rest for the day,” she wrote over the photo. “Thank you so much for the love you send to me & the kids.”

Ojeh died in May at age 45 following a battle with glioblastoma. Jones and her late husband, who tied the knot in 2007, shared son Kayin, 16, and twins Clara and Uche, 13.

When Jones returned from her family leave in September, she told the audience and her co-stars that her heart was “shattered” following the loss.

“My heart is shattered in a million pieces,” she said at the time. “The life that I’ve known since I was 19 is no more. I’ve 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.”

The journalist said she was coping “day to day” for now, adding, “I’m proud of myself for how I’ve coped so far. I’m proud of my kids for how we’ve been able to try to pull through. But it’s horrible. But I’m here, I’m breathing and I’m okay.”

Calling her husband’s death a “beautiful nightmare,” Jones shared, “To watch a 45-year-old do triathlons and live and breathe off of soccer and his kids? To take a guy like that, and watch him have to deal with this fight was a nightmare. The way he fought it and the way we rallied together and the way we saw the best of humanity was beautiful. So, it was my beautiful nightmare.”

Jones explained to her kids that “rain can’t last forever” while trying to help them process their grief. “And so when the rain comes, in some ways, I’ve learned to just look up at the rain and let it be a cleansing rain, and let it clear the air,” she went on. “And so I don’t run away from crying anymore. When it comes to grief, I see it as like, ‘Okay, here comes my cleansing rain, and it’s okay, and I almost feel better.’ And then I go back to what I’m doing. So I don’t fear it anymore.”