The Leftover Pieces; Suicide Loss Conversations
This podcast focuses on surviving life after a suicide loss, an experience that can be devastating and leave you feeling lost as you try to pick up the pieces of your shattered heart. The host, Melissa Bottorff-Arey, lost her 21-year-old son, Alex, to suicide on August 7, 2016, and brings (& often shares) her insights from her personal journey.
In each episode, Melissa engages in honest and challenging conversations with other survivors of loss, healers, and mental health experts. She also produces shorter solo episodes where she reflects on her own thoughts and experiences thus far. The podcast covers a wide range of relevant topics and addresses difficult questions. Melissa explores all aspects of grief, including trauma, hope, healing, self-care, legacy, and stigma. She believes that we learn to live alongside our grief rather than getting over it. Actual change comes through authentic, meaningful connections and mindful choices.
For supporters or educators, these conversations provide valuable insights and shine a light on suicide and grief genuinely and unapologetically. Listeners who are grieving a suicide loss can find comfort in the community and hope for a better tomorrow. Melissa aims to help others, like herself, transition from merely surviving to discovering a life filled with meaning and, potentially, even happiness amid the leftover pieces around you. You can always schedule a time to chat about being a guest from my main website.
[Please NOTE: This podcast is for only relational, informational, and entertainment purposes. It candidly and openly discusses sensitive and sometimes activating topics. There will be no in-depth or graphic descriptions of the method, but merely the possible mention of suicide, murder, rape, and the like. Be guided and care for yourself accordingly. Also, Melissa is not a doctor or licensed therapist, and nothing on this podcast should be taken in place of, or as, medical/mental health advice or recommendations.]
The Leftover Pieces; Suicide Loss Conversations
Grief Truth #8; August Daily Nuggets
“Grief teaches you who you are beneath the pain.”
Welcome, fellow griever.
This is your Daily Nugget from me, Melissa, your host of The Leftover Pieces.
Today we will share a moment of presence, a breath of truth, and a reminder.
Let’s begin.
Take a breath. Let yourself arrive.
Sometimes we don’t need answers — just something true to hold.
Here’s today’s grief truth.
Grief teaches you who you are beneath the pain
Before this loss, I thought I knew who I was.
But grief came in and unraveled everything I thought I understood.
It stripped me down — not to destroy me, but to show me who I am without the mask.
Grief doesn’t just change us — it reveals us.
It shows us the raw, resilient, cracked-open soul beneath the surface.
You’re not who you were — but that doesn’t mean you’re lost.
It means you’re becoming.
So, let's take a breath.
Let this moment be enough.
Carry the piece that speaks to you.
You’re not alone in this remembering.
I’ll be here again tomorrow.
Talk soon.
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