![[New August 2025] START HERE; Meet Melissa, Intro Episode Artwork](https://www.buzzsprout.com/rails/active_storage/representations/redirect/eyJfcmFpbHMiOnsibWVzc2FnZSI6IkJBaHBCQXl3QndnPSIsImV4cCI6bnVsbCwicHVyIjoiYmxvYl9pZCJ9fQ==--7c68857ed9a679a44606ab64e9fd8fc5f38b89f1/eyJfcmFpbHMiOnsibWVzc2FnZSI6IkJBaDdDVG9MWm05eWJXRjBPZ2hxY0djNkUzSmxjMmw2WlY5MGIxOW1hV3hzV3docEFsZ0NhUUpZQW5zR09nbGpjbTl3T2d0alpXNTBjbVU2Q25OaGRtVnlld1k2REhGMVlXeHBkSGxwUVRvUVkyOXNiM1Z5YzNCaFkyVkpJZ2x6Y21kaUJqb0dSVlE9IiwiZXhwIjpudWxsLCJwdXIiOiJ2YXJpYXRpb24ifX0=--1924d851274c06c8fa0acdfeffb43489fc4a7fcc/TLP%202024%20New%20Cover%20Art.png)
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
[New August 2025] START HERE; Meet Melissa, Intro Episode
This is the definitive “START HERE” episode. Welcome.
If you’re a new listener, absolutely begin here.
If you’re not new—but haven’t listened to this “first” episode since before February 2025 or earlier—I’ve updated it again as of August 2025, and you just might learn something new. I hope you’ll give it another listen.
Welcome to The Leftover Pieces: Suicide Loss Conversations podcast.
My name is Melissa Bottorff-Arey, and I am both the creator and host of this show, which I launched in 2020 amid an unprecedented global pandemic that was both being shadowed by and working in tandem with an even more pervasive global crisis: suicide.
Today, I want to take a moment to share my story with you—a story that transformed my life in an instant, and my response so far that has ultimately brought me here, to this space, talking to you. Knowing me a little is essential if you are to trust me enough to listen to me talk about possibly the worst thing you could ever be asked to carry in life. If you are to allow me into your sacred space of grief, you deserve to hear it.
This podcast exists because having persistent, consistent, and meaningful conversations about suicide, mental health, stigma, trauma, and grief helps others feel seen and supported—and it is how we will bring about awareness and, ultimately, change.
And because we need community. It is essential in this sacred work of grief.
So, for today, this is where I’ll leave you. This episode shares who I am—and why I’m doing this. I’m so sorry you’re here, but I’m honored to hold space for you. Thank you for being here—it truly means so much.
On this podcast, we will continue to explore the questions that haunt us, seek the courage to uncover the healing tools within us, and offer the comfort of a community we all need. Come along with me—because this is so very lonely, but we do not have to be alone. Together, let’s choose to find meaning and even happiness amid the leftover pieces before us.
New in 2025:
I now also release Daily Nuggets mini-episodes multiple times a year—offering short, soul-centered reflections for grief support you can carry in your pocket.
💻 You can find me—and everything I offer—at theleftoverpieces.com:
– My 1:1 grief coaching programs (Destination: Me™ & Soul Tides™)
– The $9/month Lighthouse Community (for moms)
– Retreats, books, and grief resources (for moms and all survivors)
– The multi-volume Legacy Project (moms)
– Grief playlists, podcast submission info, and more ways to connect (all)
You can find me, the online support & growth groups I lead, the retreats I host, the books I have written & all ways to connect with me at:
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💜 The Leftover Pieces is support central for grieving hearts.
🔗 Stay connected: Join my free email community for weekly check-ins, resources, and encouragement.
🌟 For moms: Explore the $9 Lighthouse Community — safe connection, tools, and hope.
🛠 Resources for all grievers: Start here.
🤝 One-on-one grief coaching for moms after child loss to suicide: Learn more here.
📞 Need help now? If you or someone you love is struggling with suicidal thoughts, dial 988 in the U.S. & Canada, or text HOME to 741741.