Shainelle Jones wanted an autograph from her late husband. Here’s what happened during her PEOPLE cover shoot: ‘I know it’s him.’

Shainelle Jones didn’t really believe in the signs. Although she’s a proud woman of faith, she says with a laugh that she’s not exactly a “talkative person.” But she believes her late husband sent her a message during a PEOPLE cover interview.

In this week’s issue, the broadcaster “Today” openly reports on her life after the death of her husband of 17 years, Uche Oje. Uche Oje died in May at the age of 45 from glioblastoma, an aggressive form of brain cancer.

Jones and Ogier were college sweethearts and have three children, son Cain, 16, and twins Clara and Uche Jr., 13. While Ogier was still alive, Jones, 47, admits they never talked about the end of his life. “I think people have a vision of long, heartfelt conversations like this. If someone is older, you probably have those conversations. But when someone is 45 years old and on two soccer teams in the city, you’re not talking about the end, you’re fighting next to them,” she says.

But when Ms. Jones looked at her husband, who seemed only to be trying to postpone her family’s grief, she realized that it might be selfish of her to want him to stay.

“I remember towards the end, I didn’t know it was over at that time, but he was so weak. It was right on the tip of the tongue and I wanted to ask him so much, ‘If you die, would you please let me know that it’s okay? I don’t know how that works, but why don’t you find a way to let me know?'” she says. “And I looked at him and I couldn’t do it. I didn’t want him to think, ‘You’re different too.'” So I never asked. ”

But she got a sign when she spoke at length about their bond during an interview.

Jones smiled when asked what she thought her husband would say to her on the morning of January 12, her first official appearance as co-host of Today with Jenna & Sheinelle.

“I can see his face,” Jones says. “Because he was a little bit brash and quiet and a little cocky, which I thought was attractive. And I think he was just as hard on me as well. There were times when I would do interviews, especially about politics. He was really interested in politics, so he was like, ‘Make sure you listen to this, make sure you listen to this.'” He was always like my quiet coach. So I can see his face when the job goes well, right? You’ve signed a contract and have a show named after you, and I could imagine his hug. And let’s be honest, it probably looks exactly like that blue hat photo he’s so proud of (the one he greeted her with after completing the New York City Marathon). ”

After just a few seconds, all the lights on the set went out.

“They say things come to you electrically,” Jones says, savoring the moment. “I know it’s him.”

Mr. Auger passed away in May, but Ms. Jones said she still sees her late husband everywhere, from the yellow butterflies and sunflowers to the tie she gave her son before a recent Model Congress event.

“And I know that he knows,” she said of her new job as Jenna Bush Hager’s co-host on Today’s Fourth Hour. “He has always supported me. He has helped me keep going.”

On January 12, Jones embarked on a new adventure. When she became Bush Hager’s new co-host, she says it was her first “win” without Ogier physically by her side.

“When people see me on TV, they think, ‘Oh, she’s better.’ They’re like, ‘Oh, no, no.’ I’m not better. ‘It’s like swimming in mud every day,’ says Jones, who took about a year off from Today to care for her family. She returned in September 2025. “I’ve really had to work. Empathy is my superpower now and I recognize that I have two things: I have sadness and I have this joy as well. I said it months ago and I’m going to say it now. I’m fighting for joy.”

Getting her dream job is the basis of that joy. “Jenna and I see each other, so we’re safe. If I fall, she’ll pick me up and vice versa,” Jones says. “If I told you the depth of the groans and tears I felt here today, one of the best days of my life just a few months ago, you wouldn’t even be able to write it.”

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“I see Sheinelle doing this so easily, and I know it’s not. I know it’s actually very difficult, but she’s doing it,” Bush Hager says. “And she really reminds all of us that joy and sadness can exist at the same time, and that we have to find moments of joy and celebration even in the darkness.”

Back on set, Jones just smiles knowingly as people scramble to get the lights back on. “I believe that if there is a way to let your loved one know that you are OK after you are gone, he will understand,” she says.

To learn more about Sheinelle Jones, pick up the new issue of PEOPLE, on stands Friday.