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The Leftover Pieces: Suicide Loss Conversations
Suicide loss changes everything. The Leftover Pieces® Podcast explores life after suicide through honest conversations with survivors, experts, and grieving parents learning to live forward after unimaginable loss. Parents, partners, siblings, and friends share what it means to keep living when the world has been forever changed.
Hosted by Melissa Bottorff-Arey, whose 21-year-old son Alex died by suicide in 2016, the show blends intimate conversations with survivors, healers, and mental health professionals with short solo reflections you can actually use. Together we explore child loss, trauma and nervous-system care, anniversaries and seasons, stigma, faith and meaning, legacy, and the everyday practices that help make life livable again.
At its heart, this podcast is about learning to live forward after loss. We never move on from the people we love, but we can learn to carry the grief differently. This road can feel incredibly lonely—but you are not alone here.
For supporters, educators, and professionals, these conversations also offer insight into the realities of suicide grief and what genuine, non-fixing support can look like.
If you’d like to share your story or expertise, you can request to be a guest through Melissa’s website.
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Content Note
This podcast speaks candidly about grief and suicide loss and may feel activating for some listeners. We avoid graphic descriptions and discussion of suicide methods. Please care for yourself as needed. Melissa is not a doctor or licensed therapist, and nothing shared here should be considered medical or mental-health advice.
The Leftover Pieces: Suicide Loss Conversations
Erin Blechman's Unexpected Journey; Reflections After Losing My Son to Suicide
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Today I share my conversation with fellow (suicide loss) bereaved mom, author & speaker Erin Blechman. We discuss her incredible son Max, life after suicide loss of a child and her book My Unexpected Journey: Reflections After Losing My Son to Suicide. Everyone will have a takeaway from this one.....& Erin & I share so many of the same realities...including that hope does come back AND that time alone does not ‘fix’ anything (it’s what we do with that time that matters)!
In her own words:
"The loss of my Max has been devastating," shares Erin, " and it put me on the path to become an author, speaker, and certified Grief Educator. My goal is to elevate the conversation...and to help other bereaved parents deal with the loss of their own beloved child...In my book, 'My Unexpected Journey: Reflections After Losing My Son to Suicide', I chronicle the eighteen months following the devastating loss of my beloved son, Max to suicide after his long battle with mental illness. I offer grief support to bereaved parents through online groups and community talks that seek to build greater understanding of mental illness, suicide, loss and grief. I live part-time in both Pennsylvania and Florida with her husband, Bill and Max’s dog, Emmylou".
Today, Erin & I discuss:
- Her unexpected turn into complicated grief & her journey in the 4 years since
- Who was Max? Does she signs?... and some favorite memories
- When she first felt the 'nudge' to help others - her path to becoming a grief advocate, educator & resource to others like herself.
- The vantage point that the book was written from & her intentions & hopes for the book.
- Grief Illiteracy - why is it so profound AND how do we change it?
- Where does she go now from here...?
GET HER BOOK HERE -- "My Unexpected Journey: Reflections After Losing My Son to Suicide"
Follow Erin on:
Instagram, Facebook, and LinkedIn
and on her WEBSITE
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My WEBSITE "The Leftover Pieces; Rebuilding You" is support central.
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💜 The Leftover Pieces is support for life after suicide loss. Click links below
🎙 Leave me a message: Share a question, your story, or your person’s name for a future episode → theleftoverpieces.com/voicemail
🔗 Stay connected: Join my email community for weekly support, resources, and honest conversations.
🛠 Start here: Explore website for suicide loss resources for early grief, family support, and next steps.
🤝 For moms: One-on-one grief coaching for mothers navigating life after child loss.
📞 Need support right now? If you or someone you love is struggling, call or text 988 (U.S. & Canada), or text HOME to 741741.