There’s nothing like a good surprise.
Sheinelle Jones, who was promoting her new book, Through Mom’s Eyes, spoke with her co-host Jenna Bush Hager about the writing process. She went on to share that the book was dedicated to her three kids, son Kayin, 16, and twins Clara Josephine and Uche Jr., both 13. She shares her children with her late husband, Uche Ojeh.
“I want my kids to know that they are my everything,” Jones said. “Because what I’ve realized is that tomorrow is not promised, and I think because my life has been turned upside down and they’ve already lost a parent, it made me question, ‘What would I want to leave on this planet? And what do I want to leave for my kids?”
“If there’s a time when I’m not with them, they have this book,” Jones continued, filled with emotion. “And they know their mom through this book.”
Hager, who was also overcome with emotion, revealed the big surprise.
“We couldn’t celebrate this book or this day without the three people [to] whom you dedicated [it],” Hager said.
Jones was completely stunned when the kids came from backstage to give her flowers.
“Are you serious?” Jones said in surprise as she hugged her children
Hager asked if the kids wanted to say anything about their mother and about the release of her book.
“Words can’t even describe it. I’m so happy for you, Mom,” Kayin told Jones, as she wiped away tears. “You’ve worked on this since quarantine. We’ve had the ups and downs. I mean, I remember when you lost your computer, it broke even… We’ve obviously gone through so much, and I’m so happy for you.”
Uche Jr. thanked his mom for her “compassion and kindness.”
Jones’ daughter Clara said, “It’s good! I remember I was on the plane, and it was in her bag, and there were no TVs on the flight. Her phone was dead. And I was like, ‘I want to read your book.’ So I read it and I actually really liked it. It was so good.”
Jones said that she had been working on Through Mom’s Eyes since before her husband, Ojeh, got sick.
“He pushed me to write this book,” Jones shared of her late husband, who passed from cancer.”He was fighting glioblastoma, which is a horrible brain cancer. After his very first brain surgery, he woke up, and we didn’t know— I didn’t know how he would talk or if he would be okay?”