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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
Carry Their Memory Gently: Legacy Touchstones for This Season
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TODAY -- Touchstones let love travel with you without making every minute heavy.
Journal prompt: “What I’m keeping from this month is…”
Choose one flicker that feels like company: a phrase they loved, ten seconds of their song, a color that calls them to mind. Rebuild by placing a tiny touchstone where real life happens—light a candle at dinner, wear the bracelet, set a photo by the door, speak their name before you leave the house. Then step by anchoring it to a daily moment: “When I grab my keys, I touch the bracelet,” or “When the kettle clicks, I say their name.” Small, repeatable, merciful.
Choose-your-energy menu:
- Hollow (low): Speak their name once and place a hand on your chest.
- Healing (medium): Put one touchstone where you’ll naturally see/use it.
- Becoming (higher): Share your touchstone plan with a safe person and invite them to mirror it once this week.
To end today:
Legacy is not a museum; it’s a living room. Touchstones let love move with you—into the kitchen, the car, the checkout line—without requiring a speech every time. After a suicide, memory can feel sharp or complicated; gentle, chosen rituals blunt the edge just enough to hold it. Speaking their name before you leave the house or hearing ten seconds of “their” song is not dwelling—it’s belonging. You’re showing your body that remembering is allowed and survivable. If a touchstone stings today, choose a lighter one; the goal isn’t performance, it’s companionship. Over time, these tiny ties stitch a steadier way to carry them forward without disappearing yourself.
Exhale. Keep what serves you; leave the rest. I’ll be here again tomorrow. 💜
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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.