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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
Remembering Her Friend Coble; A Brave Voice on Grief, Growth & Mental Health
Today I speak with Lauren Wood, a (super brave) third year Human Services student at Northeastern University in Boston, passionate about social justice, equal mental health access, and (naturally) suicide prevention. Lauren opens up about losing her dear friend Coble to suicide when she was just a senior in high school—an event that shattered her world and changed the trajectory of her life. Now, years later, she is leaning into the hard work of healing while actively building a future in advocacy and mental health support.
She shares "I am incredibly honored to share my sweet friend Coble’s memory through Melissa’s incredible platform". Likewise, Lauren, I am incredibly honored to have had this conversation.
With honesty, vulnerability, and grace, she brings her voice to this conversation—keeping Coble’s light alive while illuminating the often-silent journey of grief that young people carry. This is a conversation about love, loss, growing up too soon, and the power of reclaiming joy.
In this episode, we discuss:
- 💔 The impact of losing a close friend to suicide in high school—and how that shaped her identity
- 🌪️ Navigating complex emotions of grief as a teenager and into young adulthood
- 🧠 The role therapy played in her healing and why she believes everyone should have access
- 🗣️ The importance of being honest and raw in grief conversations—especially among young people
- 🎥 A special shout-out to a friend who interviewed Lauren for a suicide loss documentary
- 🧘♀️ Her journey into mindfulness and what it’s teaching her about presence, healing, and compassion
- 🏃♀️ How getting back into running has been part of reclaiming her own life and grounding herself again
- 🎶 The songs and music that still connect her to Coble, offering unexpected comfort and ongoing connection
- 🧭 Her dreams of working in mental health and suicide prevention as she turns pain into purpose
Lauren reminds us that being brave doesn’t mean having it all figured out—it means showing up anyway, with an open heart and a willingness to heal. I’m honored to help share Coble’s memory and Lauren’s voice with all of you.
💛 Be sure to listen until the end for our chat about music across a generational divide & how we can still 'come together' ...and specifically why she is always "Feelin' Peachy" these days when she thinks of Coble. Thank you, Lauren, it was my pleasure!
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Please Listen to my Start Here - Meet Melissa Episode if you are new to the podcast & have not listened (or if you are not new, it was updated in Feb 2025 & you may learn something new:)
Go to my WEBSITE "The Leftover Pieces; Rebuilding You" is support central.
PS....Get on the Jan/Feb 2026 Project Leave a Legacy of your child - GO HERE
If you, or someone you know, is struggling ww suicidal thoughts, reach out:
CALL 988 OR, you can also TEXT the word "HOME" to 741741 in the USA