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
Grief Truth #13; August Daily Nuggets
"Grief is love finding new ways to flow."
Welcome, fellow griever.
This is your Daily Nugget from me, Melissa, your host of The Leftover Pieces.
Today we will share a moment of presence, a breath of truth, and a reminder.
Let’s lean in
At first, it might feel like the love you carry has nowhere to go. But over time, you realize—it’s not gone. It’s simply seeking a new path.
"Grief is love finding new ways to flow."
Grief can feel like a dam—holding back the flood of love you still carry for them. But love is persistent. It finds cracks, trickles, streams, and eventually, whole rivers through which it can move again.
Sometimes it pours into the stories you tell, the causes you support, or the way you show up for others. Sometimes it flows quietly into the small rituals you keep—lighting a candle, wearing their favorite color, whispering their name when no one else is around.
This love is not lost. It’s transforming, adapting, and weaving itself into the life you are still living.
You don’t have to force it to find a direction. Just notice where it’s asking to go—and trust yourself to follow.
Now, take another breath.
Let this moment be enough.
Carry the piece that speaks to you.
You’re not alone in this remembering.
I’ll be here again tomorrow.
Talk soon.
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