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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
Survival, Hope, Healing… Then What?: Why Grief Changes Years After Child Loss & Suicide Loss
Use Left/Right to seek, Home/End to jump to start or end. Hold shift to jump forward or backward.
Click to Send a Text or Voicemail to Melissa
What (actually) happens after survival?
In this episode of Down the Rabbit Hole, Melissa speaks honestly about the part of grief few people prepare grieving mothers for — the “now what?” space that often emerges years after child loss and suicide loss.
After the shock fades, the anniversaries pass, and the world seems to move forward, many mothers quietly find themselves facing something deeper:
identity loss,
self-trust collapse,
nervous system exhaustion,
and the complicated reality of learning how to live with grief long term.
This episode explores:
💜 why grief changes shape over time
💜 the difference between trauma and grief
💜 the hidden collapse of self-trust after suicide loss
💜 the later grief years no one talks about
💜 rebuilding identity after child loss
💜 nervous system healing and emotional survival
💜 why “moving forward” does not mean leaving our children behind
Melissa also shares part of her own story, including the wake-up call that came several years after Alex’s death when her body finally forced her to slow down and confront the deeper rebuilding work grief was asking of her.
If you’ve ever found yourself wondering:
“Why do I still feel lost?”
“Why is this showing up differently now?”
“Why does healing still feel unfinished?”
…this episode is for you.
Looking for support?
Melissa now offers two FREE monthly spaces for grieving mothers:
💜 You Are Not Alone
A softer monthly (FREE) online support gathering for moms navigating child loss and suicide loss.
🌉 The Bridge Sessions inside The Rebuilding Room
A (FREE) 1 x per month guided rebuilding space for grieving mothers learning how to live forward after survival.
✨ Click Links Above to both spaces.
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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.