Melissa Bottorff-Arey
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, traum...
Author
Melissa Bottorff-Arey
Category
Podcast website
Latest episode
Jul 6, 2026
Where to listen?
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Episodes
In the Middle of the Month, In the Middle of Your Grief: A Pause to Notice Yourself 18.12.2025 4:17
A daily December series offering tender, truthful support for surviving the holidays after suicide loss — with grief, grace, and gentle company. Get THE Leftover Pieces APP & don't miss anything! 👉 The Leftover Pieces App This is December 18 — Welcome, Fellow Griever A Pause to Notice Yourself — A Daily Journal Prompt: “What do I notice about myself today — emotionally, physically, spiri...
Let Yourself Be Met: Receiving Care Without Shrinking Yourself 17.12.2025 3:44
A daily December series offering tender, truthful support for surviving the holidays after suicide loss — with grief, grace, and gentle company. Get THE Leftover Pieces APP & don't miss anything! 👉 The Leftover Pieces App This is December 17 — Welcome, Fellow Griever Let Yourself Be Met — A Daily Journal Prompt: “What would it look like to let myself receive care in one small way today?”...
The Company You Keep: Letting Connection Meet You Where You Are 16.12.2025 5:02
A daily December series offering tender, truthful support for surviving the holidays after suicide loss — with grief, grace, and gentle company. Get THE Leftover Pieces APP & don't miss anything! 👉 The Leftover Pieces App This is December 16 — Welcome, Fellow Griever The Company You Keep — A Daily Journal Prompt: “What kind of connection feels possible for me today — with others, or with...
Carrying What Matters Forward: Preparing Your Heart for the Week Ahead 15.12.2025 4:13
A daily December series offering tender, truthful support for surviving the holidays after suicide loss — with grief, grace, and gentle company. Week 3 Begins: “This past week, we’ve explored boundaries as acts of care — the small ways we protect our energy, honor our capacity, and stay close to what feels true. This week, we’re exploring connection — the kind that comes from truth, tenderness, an...
A Sunday for Softening: Let the Day Be Gentle on Your Spirit 14.12.2025 4:01
A daily December series offering tender, truthful support for surviving the holidays after suicide loss — with grief, grace, and gentle company. Get THE Leftover Pieces APP & don't miss anything! 👉 The Leftover Pieces App This is December 14 — Welcome, Fellow Griever Journal Prompt What could it look like to let today be softer on my spirit — in one small, honest way? Today’s Reflection...
The Impossible Math of Time: Marking Another Year Without Them 13.12.2025 7:52
A daily December series offering tender, truthful support for surviving the holidays after suicide loss — with grief, grace, and gentle company. Get THE Leftover Pieces APP & don't miss anything! 👉 The Leftover Pieces App This is December 13 — Welcome, Fellow Griever The Impossible Math of Time (Our Birthday) - A Daily Journal Prompt: “How has grief reshaped my sense of time — and who ha...
The Softness of the Weekend: A Little More Room to Breathe 12.12.2025 5:08
A daily December series offering tender, truthful support for surviving the holidays after suicide loss — with grief, grace, and gentle company. Get THE Leftover Pieces APP & don't miss anything! 👉 The Leftover Pieces App This is December 12 — Welcome, Fellow Griever The Softness of the Weekend - A Daily Journal Prompt If I offered myself one simple act of care this weekend, what would...
Honoring What Helps, Releasing What Hurts: Letting Every Day Be Different 11.12.2025 5:08
A daily December series offering tender, truthful support for surviving the holidays after suicide loss — with grief, grace, and gentle company. Get THE Leftover Pieces APP & don't miss anything! 👉 The Leftover Pieces App This is December 11 — Welcome, Fellow Griever Honoring What Helps, Releasing What Hurts - A Daily Journal Prompt: What helped me breathe a little easier today… and what...
When “No” Becomes a Gift: Protecting Your Heart Without Apology 10.12.2025 5:08
A daily December series offering tender, truthful support for surviving the holidays after suicide loss — with grief, grace, and gentle company. Get THE Leftover Pieces APP & don't miss anything! 👉 The Leftover Pieces App This is December 10 — Welcome, Fellow Griever When ‘No’ Becomes a Gift- A Daily Journal Prompt: “Where in my life does saying ‘no’ feel like an act of self-preservation...
The Quiet Yes, the Quiet No: Listening for What Your Heart Is Asking Today 09.12.2025 5:08
A daily December series offering tender, truthful support for surviving the holidays after suicide loss — with grief, grace, and gentle company. Get THE Leftover Pieces APP & don't miss anything! 👉 The Leftover Pieces App This is December 9 — Welcome, Fellow Griever The Quiet Yes, The Quiet No --A Daily Journal Prompt: “What quiet yes or quiet no is whispering inside me today — and what...
The Edges of Your Energy: How Boundaries Become Care in Grief 08.12.2025 5:50
A daily December series offering tender, truthful support for surviving the holidays after suicide loss — with grief, grace, and gentle company. Get THE Leftover Pieces APP & don't miss anything! 👉 The Leftover Pieces App This is December 8 — Welcome, Fellow Griever Boundaries as Care -- A Daily Journal Prompt: “What is one boundary my heart is asking for today — and what truth does that...
What It Means to Still Be Here: Strength, Tenderness & the Seventh Day of December 07.12.2025 4:22
A daily December series offering tender, truthful support for surviving the holidays after suicide loss — with grief, grace, and gentle company. Get THE Leftover Pieces APP & don't miss anything! 👉 The Leftover Pieces App This is December 7 — Welcome, Fellow Griever Today’s Reflection Seven days into December, today’s episode reflects on the strength, tenderness, and full humanity requir...
Rest as Resistance, Rest as Renewal: Letting Yourself Be Human Today 06.12.2025 5:12
A daily December series offering tender, truthful support for surviving the holidays after suicide loss — with grief, grace, and gentle company. Get THE Leftover Pieces APP & don't miss anything! 👉 The Leftover Pieces App This is December 6 — Welcome, Fellow Griever Today’s Reflection Today’s episode honors rest as both resistance and renewal. Whether you're barely surviving, rebuil...
You Don’t Have to Hold It All: Letting Your Heart Lead the Way 05.12.2025 5:05
A daily December series offering tender, truthful support for surviving the holidays after suicide loss — with grief, grace, and gentle company. Get THE Leftover Pieces APP & don't miss anything! 👉 The Leftover Pieces App This is December 5 — Welcome, Fellow Griever Today’s Reflection Today’s episode invites you to let your heart — not December’s expectations — guide your pace. Whether y...
Soft Landings Only: Creating Gentle Space in a Heavy Month 04.12.2025 5:05
A daily December series offering tender, truthful support for surviving the holidays after suicide loss — with grief, grace, and gentle company. Get THE Leftover Pieces APP & don't miss anything! 👉 The Leftover Pieces App This is December 4 — Welcome, Fellow Griever Tonight is our Full Moon Intention Gathering inside The Lighthouse Community. If you’re a mom and want a gentle space to co...
Grief & Grace in December: Allowing Yourself to Feel What’s Real 03.12.2025 4:28
A daily December series offering tender, truthful support for surviving the holidays after suicide loss — with grief, grace, and gentle company. Get THE Leftover Pieces APP & don't miss anything! 👉 The Leftover Pieces App It is December 3 - welcome, Fellow Griever Today’s Reflection Today’s episode explores how grief and grace can coexist in December, even when the world feels loud and e...
Letting Go of the “Shoulds”: Releasing Holiday Pressure After Suicide Loss 02.12.2025 6:08
A daily December series offering tender, truthful support for surviving the holidays after suicide loss — with grief, grace, and gentle company. Get THE Leftover Pieces APP & don't miss anything! 👉 The Leftover Pieces App This is December 2, Welcome Fellow Griever Today’s Reflection December brings an avalanche of “shoulds,” especially after suicide loss. Today’s episode invites you to r...
Surviving December After Suicide Loss: When the Holidays Arrive Before You’re Ready 01.12.2025 5:05
Surviving December After Suicide Loss: When the Holidays Arrive Before You’re Ready... A daily December series offering tender, truthful support for surviving the holidays after suicide loss — with grief, grace, space...and my gentle company. Get THE Leftover Pieces APP & don't miss anything! 👉 The Leftover Pieces App Today’s Reflection December has a way of showing up before our hearts...
Your Mind Won’t Let You Move Forward: The Power of Subconscious Healing after Suicide Loss 30.11.2025 47:55
Today I’m joined by Emily Dziedzic , a subconscious change practitioner who helps high-achieving women break free from anxiety, fear, and emotional overwhelm using fast, root-level rewiring. And this work, with her, was a game changer in my own healing. I first worked with Emily back in 2021 during an intensive NLP program — Neuro Linguistic Programming — along with hypnosis and unconscious mind w...
Grief After Suicide: Month Wrap-Up & What Comes Next 31.10.2025 6:58
Get THE Leftover Pieces APP & don't miss anything! CLICK HERE TODAY -- You’ve spent a month practicing gentler ways to carry what can’t be undone—and that practice is portable. Journal prompt: “My takeaway from October—the thing I’ll actually use—is…” Write one flicker sentence you believe today: “I can start small and still be real.” Build a 24-hour rebuild weave on a note you’ll see to...
Wrap Pt 2: Becoming on Purpose + Weaving the Light 30.10.2025 5:39
Get THE Leftover Pieces APP & don't miss anything! CLICK HERE TODAY - - Identity trickled back in micro-acts, and then we stitched everything together with thresholds, pacing, and touchstones. Journal prompt: “A boundary that made room for me was…” Name one or two flickers of identity you lived this month—maker, advocate, listener—and keep them visible. Rebuild by pairing a three-beat th...
Wrap Pt 1: Hope in the Hollow + Healing in Motion After Suicide Loss 29.10.2025 5:37
Get THE Leftover Pieces APP & don't miss anything! CLICK HERE TODAY - - We started by finding light you could actually hold, then practiced repairs small enough to repeat. Journal prompt: “What I’m keeping from these first two weeks is…” Gather three flickers that worked for you —window light, their bracelet, a five-minute witness. Then build a mini rebuild stack you can run in ten minut...
A Letter to November-You: Carry Grief Forward, Gently 28.10.2025 5:00
Get THE Leftover Pieces APP & don't miss anything! CLICK HERE TODAY - - When the road tilts, leave breadcrumbs for the you who has to walk it. Journal prompt: “If Future-Me spoke up today, she’d ask me to…” Offer flicker by telling November-You one true thing that helped this month—maybe the “Window light + long exhale" from a fe weeks ago? Rebuild with a five-sentence note: greet...
Grief Season Prep: Permission Language That Travels 27.10.2025 5:39
Get THE Leftover Pieces APP & don't miss anything! CLICK HERE TODAY -- Holidays and anniversaries come with scripts you didn’t write. Permission language lets you carry your truth into rooms that may not know how to hold it. Journal prompt: “One event I’m resizing this season is… I’ll protect my energy by saying…” Even before the day arrives, give yourself a flicker of relief by writing...
Edit Your Grief Practices: Review, Keep, Drop, Adjust 26.10.2025 5:01
Get THE Leftover Pieces APP & don't miss anything! CLICK HERE TODAY -- Integration is mostly editing—conserving what helps, quietly retiring what doesn’t. Journal prompt: “If I gave my energy a budget, I’d spend more on… and less on…” Scan this month for flickers that actually eased a day—witnessing, one brick finished, a boundary honored, light as companion—and keep them on purpose....
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