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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
Remembering Her Friend Coble; A Brave Voice on Grief, Growth & Mental Health
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Today I speak with Lauren Wood, a (super brave) third year Human Services student at Northeastern University in Boston, passionate about social justice, equal mental health access, and (naturally) suicide prevention. Lauren opens up about losing her dear friend Coble to suicide when she was just a senior in high school—an event that shattered her world and changed the trajectory of her life. Now, years later, she is leaning into the hard work of healing while actively building a future in advocacy and mental health support.
She shares "I am incredibly honored to share my sweet friend Coble’s memory through Melissa’s incredible platform". Likewise, Lauren, I am incredibly honored to have had this conversation.
With honesty, vulnerability, and grace, she brings her voice to this conversation—keeping Coble’s light alive while illuminating the often-silent journey of grief that young people carry. This is a conversation about love, loss, growing up too soon, and the power of reclaiming joy.
In this episode, we discuss:
- 💔 The impact of losing a close friend to suicide in high school—and how that shaped her identity
- 🌪️ Navigating complex emotions of grief as a teenager and into young adulthood
- 🧠 The role therapy played in her healing and why she believes everyone should have access
- 🗣️ The importance of being honest and raw in grief conversations—especially among young people
- 🎥 A special shout-out to a friend who interviewed Lauren for a suicide loss documentary
- 🧘♀️ Her journey into mindfulness and what it’s teaching her about presence, healing, and compassion
- 🏃♀️ How getting back into running has been part of reclaiming her own life and grounding herself again
- 🎶 The songs and music that still connect her to Coble, offering unexpected comfort and ongoing connection
- 🧭 Her dreams of working in mental health and suicide prevention as she turns pain into purpose
Lauren reminds us that being brave doesn’t mean having it all figured out—it means showing up anyway, with an open heart and a willingness to heal. I’m honored to help share Coble’s memory and Lauren’s voice with all of you.
💛 Be sure to listen until the end for our chat about music across a generational divide & how we can still 'come together' ...and specifically why she is always "Feelin' Peachy" these days when she thinks of Coble. Thank you, Lauren, it was my pleasure!
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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.