The Leftover Pieces: Suicide Loss Conversations

After suicide loss, the “hollow” isn’t failure—it’s space where hope, healing, and becoming can actually take root.  Journal prompt: Today’s flicker of hope was… This week... "Hope in the Hollow"  Now, October. After the volume of Suicide Awareness Month, we drop into the quieter work. This DAILY NUGGET Series is centered on Hope, Healing, Becoming. It’s here to carry us—and embolden us—...

Today I share a recent conversation I had with a two-time suicide loss survivor, including her beloved son Zack in Sept. 2024. Meet Zack's Mom Patty Born is a board-certified Psychiatric Mental Health Nurse Practitioner, licensed massage therapist, and nurse coach-in-training who integrates mind-body care. A two-time suicide loss survivor—her ex-husband (2012) Charlie, and her 19-year-old son...

In this September 2025 episode, in the midst of Suicide Awareness Month, I’m widening the lens from life after loss to awareness and advocacy. (BUT... We are NOT taking the preachy "prevention" angle that comes at us non-stop in Sept., I promise!) Writer/storyteller Jamie Brickhouse —a self-described SAS (suicide attempt survivor) —joins me to unpack the alcohol–depression loop, the suic...

Today I speak with a father who lost his son Heston to suicide June 7, 2020 " Andy Campbell’s new book, Overcoming Life’s Toughest Setbacks , distills his 15 core beliefs that helped him keep going when life didn’t let up. His lens is earned: childhood sexual abuse and bullying, losing his mother young, estrangement from his father, a diagnosis of stage-4 pancreatic cancer with multiple surge...

Check out the   BECAUSE THEY ARE LOVED Poetry & Letter Anthology HERE & Get 10% OFF either (or both) with Code: PODCAST10 Now, for our episode-- Today, I’m joined by Reshma Kearney — a trauma-informed mindfulness and healing guide who helps people navigate grief and the life transitions after suicide loss with compassion and resilience. After losing her husband, Sean to suicide in 2022, Re...

On day one of Suicide Prevention Awareness Month, we explore how postvention becomes prevention —through families who consent to share a loved one’s device so the Black Box Project can detect real-world patterns that help save lives. Kim Burditt Bartlett, MSW —   She is a suicide loss sibling and Senior Manager of Family Engagement for Stop Soldier Suicide’s Black Box Project. She creates trauma-i...

"Grief truth: We keep going, together." 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. Lean in with me --- This month, we’ve walked through thirty-one days of truths about grief — the ones that don’t fit on sympathy cards or in quick conversations, but live...

 "Grief will always be part of your story."  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. Lean in with me ---  It will not always be the main chapter—but it will always be written into the pages.   "Grief will always be part of your story."  Gri...

 "Some days, survival is enough."  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. Lean in with me --- Not every day will be a day of breakthroughs or big steps forward. Some days, breathing is the accomplishment.  "Some days, survival is enough." ...

 "You can love them and love your life."  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. Lean in with me ---  At first, it may feel impossible—like joy would be a betrayal. But love is not a limited resource.   "You can love them and love your life.&qu...

 "There will be days you feel closer to them."  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. Lean in with me --- Grief is not a decline in connection to our loved one. Some days, they feel so near you could almost reach out and touch them.   "There w...

"Grief will teach you who your people are." 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. Lean in with me ---  Loss has a way of clarifying relationships in ways nothing else can.  "Grief will teach you who your people are." Some people will step...

"Healing doesn’t mean forgetting." 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. Lean in with me --- Some fear that moving forward will erase the person they love. But healing and forgetting are not the same thing. "Healing doesn’t mean forgetting.&qu...

 "It’s normal to miss who you were before."  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. Lean in with me --- Loss doesn’t just take the person you love—it reshapes you.  "It’s normal to miss who you were before."  You may look back at the versi...

"You don’t have to explain your grief." 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. Lean in with me --- Not everyone will understand. And honestly? Not everyone needs to. "You don’t have to explain your grief." Grief is intimate. It lives in th...

"Grief can change your definition of strength." 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. Lean in with me --- Before loss, strength might have looked like pushing through, holding it all together, or never letting anyone see you cry. After loss, streng...

 "Grief is the price of love."  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. Lean in with me --- If we never loved deeply, we’d never hurt this much.  "Grief is the price of love."  Grief is not a punishment. It’s the echo of the love that fille...

 "There is no 'getting over' grief."  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. Lean in with me ---  We’ve all heard it: “You’ll get over it.” As if loss is something we recover from, like a cold.  "There is no 'getting over' g...

 "Memories are a form of connection."  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. Lean in with me --- We sometimes fear that talking about them will hurt too much—or that others will grow tired of hearing their name. But memories are not just reminders...

 "It’s okay to not be okay."  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. Lean in with me --- There’s a strange pressure after loss to present yourself as “fine,” as though grief is something that should be quickly packaged and hidden away.   "It’s...

"Your pace is the right pace." 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. Lean in with me --- We live in a world that measures progress in milestones, deadlines, and “shoulds.” But grief doesn’t fit neatly into any of those boxes.  "Your pace is th...

 "Joy and grief can live in the same heart."  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. Lean in with me --- For a long time, I thought joy would be a betrayal—that if I laughed or felt lightness, it meant I’d somehow let go of the person I lost.   &quo...

 "You are not weak for grieving."  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. Lean in with me --- Some people mistake tears for fragility, or heartbreak for collapse. But grief has a way of showing us that real strength often looks nothing like what we...

 "Grief changes, but it never disappears."  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. Lean in with me --- In the early days, grief can feel like it’s everywhere—heavy in your chest, clouding your mind, weighing down every breath. But as time passes, it...

 "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.   "Gr...