Grief After Suicide: Losing a Brother, Finding Sobriety, and Choosing Life Again | Tommi’s Story

Send us Fan MailSometimes the hardest stories are the ones we can’t keep inside.In this deeply honest episode, we sit down with Thomasine Snelick—known to friends and family as Tommi, a 27-year-old from rural Pennsylvania, who shares the devastating loss of her brother to suicide, and, just eighteen months later, the death of her stepfather. Two losses. One young life forever changed. What follows is an unguarded conversation about grief, mental health, addiction as a coping mechanism, and the quiet courage it takes to choose life again and again.Tommi paints a vivid picture of her brother — tough, loyal, larger than life, while walking us through the long, uneven search for help: hospital stays, medication changes, and the exhausting hope that things might finally turn. She speaks candidly about the early months after his death, when alcohol felt like the only relief, and the pivotal moment when a coworker’s blunt compassion helped her choose sobriety.We explore the silence that settled over her home, the fear of saying her brother’s name out loud, and the emotional weight of planning a funeral when everyone is already hollowed out by grief. Tommi also opens up about childhood abuse disguised as “help” at a horse farm, how she left horses to survive, and later reclaimed them on her own terms as part of her healing.One of the most powerful moments in this episode is Tommi’s decision to rebuild her brother’s 2003 Ford F-250 as a living memorialm a hands-on act of love that gave structure to chaos and meaning to unbearable loss. Along the way, she shares practical tools that helped her survive: daily journaling to track mood and progress, breaking taboos around men’s mental health, and the simple but lifesaving power of checking in when something feels off.This episode is for anyone navigating life after suicide loss, for siblings who grieve quietly, and for friends who want to help but don’t know how. If this conversation moves you, please share it with someone who might need it, subscribe for more real stories, and leave a review to help others find their way here.Ways to reach Tommi:  https://www.facebook.com/share/18773kZXWR/?mibextid=wwXIfrhttps://www.tiktok.com/@tommileigh98?_r=1&_t=ZP-93SL9qK8UcpIf this conversation stirred something in you… good. That’s where change begins.Make sure you’re subscribed, share this with someone who needs it, and if you’re ready to tell your story, step into your voice, or build a life that actually feels like yours… You’re in the right place.I’m Julie Fairhurst, and this is where stories turn into power.Go to my website if you would like to be a guest on the Women Like Me Stories & Business in the toolbar click Let's PodcastJulie's Website