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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
The Quiet Yes, the Quiet No: Listening for What Your Heart Is Asking Today
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A daily December series offering tender, truthful support for surviving the holidays after suicide loss — with grief, grace, and gentle company.
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This is December 9 — Welcome, Fellow Griever
The Quiet Yes, The Quiet No --A Daily Journal Prompt:
“What quiet yes or quiet no is whispering inside me today — and what would it feel like to honor it?”
Today’s Reflection
Today’s episode explores the small but powerful choices we make in grief — the quiet yeses and quiet nos that guide us through the emotional terrain of December. Whether you’re barely surviving, gently rebuilding, or learning to integrate grief with moments of joy, you’re invited to listen for what your heart is softly asking today.
Quoted or Referenced In This Episode
– “If someone does not want me, it is not the end of the world. But if I do not want me, the world is nothing.” — Nayyirah Waheed
A Gentle Closing Reminder
Even your smallest yes — and your smallest no — deserve respect.
Stay Connected
💜 TheLeftoverPieces.com
💜 Instagram @theleftoverpieces
💜 Download the Leftover Pieces App
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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.