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.
💜
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
Author A.S.King Talks; Suicide IS Normal AND Tragic
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
Today I am sharing my thought-provoking conversation with mom and author A.S. King (aka Amy to friends). She shares about her daughter Gracie who died by suicide in Dec. of 2018. She openly talks about the duality of being a public speaker who advocates for teen mental health and is a champion for teens' voices in general AND that she is also a mom who lost her child amidst her advocacy and openness...because suicide happens,
Amy speaks her mind and this "tell-it-like-it-is" host thinks that is admirable. I wish more people were willing to have this type of unguarded, honest chat...there is a LOT to take away from today.
"A.S. King is an award-winning author for young people and is the recipient of the 2022 Margaret A Edwards award which recognizes an author's work in helping adolescents become aware of themselves and addressing questions about their role and importance in relationships, society, and in the world. Amy is a faculty member of the Writing for Children and Young Adults MFA program at Vermont College of Fine Arts and spends many months of the year traveling the world speaking to high school and university students, educators, and humans who care about the mental health of young people. After more than a decade of living self-sufficiently and teaching literacy to adults in Ireland, she now lives in Pennsylvania."
You will hear Amy and I talk about:
- The loss of her daughter Gracie to suicide in Dec. 2018
- Our immense need for trauma-informed "everyone" in our world today
- Suicide is normal- how we create stigma where it needn't be
- From banned books to banned mental health care initiatives - where we are getting it all wrong & the current climate we have is only making it worse!
- Suicide prevention may be "sexy" but why do suicide loss survivors understand it's NOT where our attention should be - the real path forward to less suicide
- Teenagers are real people who deserve real respect & not just be labeled & dismissed (& are often mostly smarter than us so-called grown-ups)
- There is so much more trauma to deal with than most will admit - we need to start listening and healing
Learn more at www.as-king.com
(P.S... that award-winning author part is serious - go buy her books, she's amazing!)
Find her on Social media - Instagram and Twitter
Find other good stuff and links here--->>> Good Stuff and Links
_
__________________________________________________________________________
💜 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.