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:

Support the show

__________________________________________________________________________

💜 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.

My conversation with Bonnie Swade founder of SASS-MoKan, a suicide awareness survivor support group in the Kansas City area is packed full of information on the role of a support group, a support system, in a grievers life. Bonnie lost her 31 year old son Brett to suicide on December 20, 2003. The following year, she and her husband Mickey founded their own group. They do very important work in the KC metro area but are a model and inspiration for groups everywhere. SASS (Suicide Awareness Survivor Support) believes the public must be educated about suicide. I COMPLETELY AGREE !!

From her website:

We sincerely feel that "Suicide is everyone's business." With this in mind, SASS has five steps that we’re taking to make sure that "Suicide is everyone’s business." Those steps are: education, public awareness. networking with healthcare agencies, uniting survivors and providing information to area support groups.

Please check out SASS-MoKan


If you or someone you know is struggling PLEASE reach out & talk to someone
The National Suicide Lifeline is there for you

IN a crisis you can also TEXT:
TEXT the word "HOME" to 741741 in the USA
in Canada TEXT 686868
in the UK TEXT 85258

And Grievers, I am always here. You can find me on Instagram at The Leftover Pieces

Support the show

__________________________________________________________________________

💜 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.

In this (first) Mini Solo "Down the Rabbit Hole" (DTRH) Episode I delve into the topic of Fear & Grief. I talk about how they overlap & interact as well as how I have (started) to deal with it in my (new) life alongside suicide loss … & grief!

You can find & connect with me at

The Leftover Pieces Instagram
or
The Leftover Pieces Podcast Webpage

Life after suicide loss is nothing short of a wasteland of the leftover pieces of your shattered heart, of your former self. Join Melissa, a mother who lost her 21 year old son Alex to suicide, as she has real conversations with other loss survivors, awareness advocates & mental health experts looking to explore the questions we all seek the answers to. Come along as we delve into areas such a trauma, hope, stigma & shame, learning to live with grief (not get over it), filling your coping toolbox with useful tools and finding (& learning to love) your new self … & more.

If you or someone you know is struggling PLEASE reach out & talk to someone
The National Suicide Lifeline is there for you

IN a crisis you can also TEXT--->
TEXT the word "HOME" to 741741 in the USA
in Canada TEXT 686868
in the UK TEXT 85258

And Grievers, I am always here. You can find me on Instagram at The Leftover Pieces

Support the show

__________________________________________________________________________

💜 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.