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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 Weekend: Letting Stillness Be Enough
Use Left/Right to seek, Home/End to jump to start or end. Hold shift to jump forward or backward.
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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👉 The Leftover Pieces App
This is December 27 — Welcome, Fellow Griever
Letting Stillness Be Enough — A Daily Journal Prompt:
“What might become possible if I allow this weekend to be slower than usual?”
Today’s Reflection
The space between Christmas and the new year can feel disorienting for grievers. Today’s episode invites stillness and reminds us that slowing down is part of healing.
Quoted or Referenced in This Episode
– “In an age of speed, I began to think, nothing could be more invigorating than going slow.” — Pico Iyer
A Gentle Closing Reminder
You don’t have to fill the quiet — you can rest inside it.
Stay Connected
💜 TheLeftoverPieces.com
💜 Instagram @theleftoverpieces
💜 Download the Leftover Pieces App
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Get THE Leftover Pieces APP & don't miss anything! CLICK HERE
💜 The Leftover Pieces is support central for grieving hearts.
🔗 Stay connected: Join my free email community for weekly check-ins, resources, and encouragement.
🌟 For moms: Explore the $9 Lighthouse Community — safe connection, tools, and hope.
🛠 Resources for all grievers: Start here.
🤝 One-on-one grief coaching for moms after child loss to suicide: Learn more here.
📞 Need help now? If you or someone you love is struggling with suicidal thoughts, dial 988 in the U.S. & Canada, or text HOME to 741741.