Jenna Bush Hager ended this week’s episodes of Today With Jenna & Sheinelle by getting an early start on Sheinelle Jones‘ birthday celebrations.
“You guys, the weekend is here, and I have one suggestion for you,” she told viewers during the Friday, April 17, episode, which was prerecorded. “Can we all wish Ms. Sheinelle Jones a happy birthday?”
A Jenna & Sheinelle crew member surprised Jones by rolling out a birthday cake decorated with the cover of her new book, Through Mom’s Eyes, which was released on Tuesday, April 14. “Happy Birthday! We love you. We are so happy for you,” Bush Hager told Jones, whose actual birthday is on Sunday, April 19. “You’ve had an incredible birthday week.”
Jones was moved by the sweet birthday gesture. “Okay, I’m not gonna get all emotional, but 47 was a lot. And now, I’m turning 48. And when I turned 47, it was a tough day, on my 47th birthday, and I just couldn’t see the light at the end of the tunnel,” she told Bush Hager, alluding to her late husband Uche Ojeh‘s private battle with brain cancer.
“And so, for 48 to be so wonderful and to be here with you and you guys is just really, it lets you know that if you’re in something, just know that there is light,” she gushed.
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Bush Hager wrapped up the heartfelt moment by stating, “There’s gonna be a better birthday ahead. We love you! Happy birthday! I wish we could blow out candles, but they’re afraid we’ll light it on fire.”
2025 marked a difficult year for Jones and her family. She celebrated her 47th birthday shortly before Ojeh died at the age of 45 in May 2025. She returned to Today that September after taking several months off and was named as Bush Hager’s new fourth hour of Today cohost in December. Jones’ year ended on a sad note, as her grandmother, Josephine Vonceal Pace Brown, died at the age of 96 in December 2025.
Last month, Jones opened up about how her late husband and grandmother inspired the release of her new book. “This was supposed to come out last spring. And the truth is, my husband, Uche, got really sick while I was writing this, and he pushed me to keep going,” she said on the March 23 episode of Today. “So, I delayed this for a year after he passed because I wanted to be with him and the kids, but I promised him that I wouldn’t give this up.”
Jones went on to reveal that her grandmother was initially supposed to join her on her Through Mom’s Eyes book tour. “Grandmama is all over this book, and she’s in the present tense,” she said. “They stopped the recording, and the woman said, ‘If you want to, you can make it past tense.’ And I thought, ‘No. Grandmama’s alive. Grandmama’s alive in this book.’”
Jones continued, “I wrote this when my life was, frankly, falling apart, and motherhood doesn’t stop. That’s what I’ve learned. If anything, the volume turns up when life gets hard. And there were times when I felt alone, and the pages of this book made me feel less alone.”
Today With Jenna & Sheinelle, Weekdays, 10am, NBC
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