The Leftover Pieces: Suicide Loss Conversations

Click to Send a Text or Voicemail to MelissaMother’s Day after child loss can feel impossibly complicated. In this episode of Down the Rabbit Hole, Melissa speaks honestly about the layered reality of motherhood after suicide loss—the grief, the love, changing family dynamics, and the truth that this day never feels the same again. 💜 In this episode: Why Mother’s Day changes forever after child loss The duality of gratitude and grief How later grief lands differently than the early years Navigating complicated family relationships after loss Giving yourself permission to move through the day gently Why you are still a mother—always Mother’s Day, If I’m Telling the TruthMother’s Day can feel brutal.Not because I’m not gratefulto be a mother,but because there is no clean wayto hold love and lossin the same pair of hands.There is no simple wayto celebrate motherhoodwhen one of your children is gone,or far away,or when the shape of your familyhas changed in waysyou never would have chosen.The world wants to make this dayabout flowers and smilesand neat little moments of gratitude.But grief does not carewhat day it is.It rises where it rises.And sometimes it rises here.If I’m telling the truth,there are years I want to lean inand years I want to hide.Years I want to say your nameall day long,and years I can barely breathethrough the weight of missing you.And still—I am your mother.I am your motherin the ache,in the remembering,in the longing,in the love that did not leavewhen you did.I am your motherwhen this day feels sacred,and when it feels cruel.When I feel grateful.When I feel shattered.When I want to celebrate,and when I want to disappear.So maybe this daydoesn’t need to be beautiful.Maybe it just needs to be honest.Maybe it looks like a candle,a tear,a whispered name,a quiet no,a memory I let myself keep touching.Maybe honoring this dayjust means telling the truth:I love deeply.I grieve deeply.I am still a mother.And that is enough.Looking for deeper support? Whether you’re in the early years of grief or feeling stuck further down the road, let’s walk through it together. Click Here and Schedule a 30-minute Chat with Me. It would be my honor to speak with you about coaching. Between May 10–17, mention this episoSupport the show__________________________________________________________________________💜 The Leftover Pieces is support for life after suicide loss. Click links below🎙 Leave me a message: Share a question, your story, or your person’s name for a future episode → theleftoverpieces.com/voicemail 🔗 Stay connected: Join my email community for weekly support, resources, and honest conversations. 🛠 Start here: Explore website for suicide loss resources for early grief, family support, and next steps. 🤝 For moms: One-on-one grief coaching for mothers navigating life after child loss.📞 Need support right now? If you or someone you love is struggling, call or text 988 (U.S. & Canada), or text HOME to 741741.

Click to Send a Text or Voicemail to MelissaDo we ever stop grieving after losing a child to suicide? In this episode, we go 'down the rabbit hole' to explore the reality of long-term grief after suicide loss and what happens after the initial survival years. Many grieving mothers find themselves asking “what now?” after the first few years, when support fades but the grief remains. This episode introduces a new way of understanding grief—not as something to overcome, but something we learn to live with as we rebuild our identity, our life, and our sense of meaning after loss. If you’re searching for answers about life after suicide loss, ongoing grief, or how to move forward after losing a child, this episode begins that conversation. n this episode, we talk about: The truth about whether grief ever “ends” after suicide loss  Why surviving the first few years is not the same as learning to live again  The difference between grief and healing—and why both matter  The “now what?” space that often comes after the early years of loss  That child loss and suicide loss fundamentally change who we are  That this loss means we must rebuild your life, identity, and sense of self after loss  Why this year (season) of Down the Rabbit Hole episodes will focus on living forward—not just surviving A gentle reminder:If you’re early in your grief, this conversation may feel heavy.You are not meant to have this all figured out right now. Survival is enough in the beginning.This episode is here to offer perspective—not pressure.Take what serves you, leave the rest.🎙️ Want to share something with me?I’ve created a space where you can leave me a voice message—whether it’s a question, something you’re carrying, or just saying your loved one's name -- I am here for you & it would be my honor to hear from you.Your message may help shape a future episode, and you can always remain anonymous - just let me know at the beginning or end of your message🎙 Leave a message here: 🔗 theleftoverpieces.com/voicemailSupport the show__________________________________________________________________________💜 The Leftover Pieces is support for life after suicide loss. Click links below🎙 Leave me a message: Share a question, your story, or your person’s name for a future episode → theleftoverpieces.com/voicemail 🔗 Stay connected: Join my email community for weekly support, resources, and honest conversations. 🛠 Start here: Explore website for suicide loss resources for early grief, family support, and next steps. 🤝 For moms: One-on-one grief coaching for mothers navigating life after child loss.📞 Need support right now? If you or someone you love is struggling, call or text 988 (U.S. & Canada), or text HOME to 741741.

Click to Send a Text or Voicemail to MelissaIn this episode, I’m joined by Colleen Kraft—a pediatrician of 36 years and a mother of three—who shares the story of her son Tim, who died by suicide in February of 2022 at the age of 31.Tim’s journey included late-onset schizophrenia, beginning with early psychosis in his late twenties. Together, we explore what it looks like to love someone through serious mental illness, the challenges families face within the mental health system, and the difficult reality of navigating care when answers are limited.Colleen brings both her medical insight and her lived experience as a mother into this conversation, helping us better understand psychosis, its impact, and why it can lead to dangerous or unpredictable outcomes.We also talk about the questions so many of us carry after loss—the what ifs, the unknowns—and how we begin to move forward while still holding love, grief, and connection.This conversation is both informative and deeply human—offering insight, validation, and a reminder that you are not alone.Resources mentioned in this episode:Schizophrenia and Psychosis Action Alliance https://sczaction.org/Podcast: Schizophrenia: Three Moms in the Trenches https://schizophrenia3momsinthetrenches.buzzsprout.com/Norway’s Patient Pathways for Mental Health & Substance Use https://www.helsenorge.no/en/psykisk-helse/patient-pathway-for-mental-health-and-substance-abuse/EPI-NET (Early Psychosis Intervention Network) https://nationalepinet.org/Children and Screens: Digital Media & Youth Mental Health (Free Handbook) https://www.childrenandscreens.org/newsroom/news/children-and-screens-announces-groundbreaking-handbook-on-digital-medias-impact-on-children-and-adolescents/Book: The Wild Edge of Sorrow by Francis Weller Support the show__________________________________________________________________________💜 The Leftover Pieces is support for life after suicide loss. Click links below🎙 Leave me a message: Share a question, your story, or your person’s name for a future episode → theleftoverpieces.com/voicemail 🔗 Stay connected: Join my email community for weekly support, resources, and honest conversations. 🛠 Start here: Explore website for suicide loss resources for early grief, family support, and next steps. 🤝 For moms: One-on-one grief coaching for mothers navigating life after child loss.📞 Need support right now? If you or someone you love is struggling, call or text 988 (U.S. & Canada), or text HOME to 741741.

Click to Send a Text or Voicemail to MelissaA Quiet Return: Ten Years of Grief and the Bridges We BuildAfter an unexpected, unplanned two-month pause, Melissa returns to The Leftover Pieces Podcast with a quiet and honest reflection on what it means to reach the ten-year mark after losing her son Alex to suicide.So, as she says, this wasn’t a planned break. But as the calendar turned toward a full decade of living without her child, something in Melissa needed to slow down, reflect, and listen more closely to what this next season of grief — and this next season of the podcast — might look like.In this relaunch episode, Melissa shares openly about the weight of long-term grief, the ways child loss continues to shape identity even many years later, and the realization that healing doesn’t mean leaving our children behind.She also reflects on a powerful dream that helped her understand the guiding word that arrived at the beginning of the year: bridge — a symbol of learning to live forward while still carrying everything that matters.This episode marks the beginning of a new chapter for the podcast.In the months ahead, Melissa will be leaning into deeper conversations about what grief looks like beyond the early years, especially for bereaved mothers navigating the long road of life after child loss.Upcoming episodes will include:• conversations with mothers further along in their grief journeys • reflections on identity, resilience, and rebuilding life after loss • honest discussions about the parts of grief that rarely get talked about once the world assumes we’re “better” • continued support for those navigating suicide loss and traumatic child lossWhether you are early in your grief or many years down the road, this season will explore what it truly means to live forward while carrying the love and memory of those we’ve lost.As always, take what serves you… and leave the rest.Resources & SupportIf you are looking for additional support after suicide loss, or you are a bereaved mother navigating life after traumatic child loss, you can explore coaching, writing support, and grief resources at:www.theleftoverpieces.comMelissa offers:• one-on-one grief coaching • support for mothers navigating child loss • guidance for those who feel called to write or share their loved one’s story • resources for suicide loss survivors and familiesSupport the show__________________________________________________________________________💜 The Leftover Pieces is support for life after suicide loss. Click links below🎙 Leave me a message: Share a question, your story, or your person’s name for a future episode → theleftoverpieces.com/voicemail 🔗 Stay connected: Join my email community for weekly support, resources, and honest conversations. 🛠 Start here: Explore website for suicide loss resources for early grief, family support, and next steps. 🤝 For moms: One-on-one grief coaching for mothers navigating life after child loss.📞 Need support right now? If you or someone you love is struggling, call or text 988 (U.S. & Canada), or text HOME to 741741.

Click to Send a Text or Voicemail to MelissaA daily December series offering tender, truthful support for surviving the holidays after suicide loss — with grief, grace, & gentle company.Get THE Leftover Pieces APP & don't miss anything!👉 The Leftover Pieces AppThis is December 31 — Welcome, Fellow GrieverNew Year’s Eve can be heavy for grievers — a reminder that time keeps moving, even when your heart resists.Today’s I offer a quiet companionship with a longer reflection & an original New Year’s Eve poem, honoring survival and the love you carry forward as a year closesStill Here — A Daily Journal Prompt“As this year ends, what have I carried — what does that say about my love, my strength, or my becoming?”Still Here — A New Year’s Eve Reflection (Poem)This year did not end all at once. Rather, it released us reluctantly — sigh by ragged, echoing sigh, through endless hours that asked more than we could sustain.Tonight is not just a counting down. It is the act of carrying on — of bringing forward what love refuses to leave behind: the moments, the names, the memories, all that we survived, and all that we still hold close.Midnight does not soothe a bone-deep ache. January does not undo what we desperately wish could be undone. A calendar turning will never ready us — it announces another year to walk in the after.Let it arrive — tenderly, without forcing your heart to keep pace in this invisible, impossible race of another year without them.Love does not thin with the tendrils of time. It does not fray or fade at the edges. It deepens at its very roots, learns new shapes, finds new ways to grow inside us.We are not leaving them in the before.We are carrying them forward — through our living, through our loving, through our persistent, tender intention to keep going. In our soul’s quiet recognition of theirs.Somewhere between the old year and the new, held in remembering, buoyed by hoping, lives a quiet place — not empty, not resolved — just opening.And in this space, we stand exactly as we are.May this year meet you there. Here. Still here.Broken, bruised, or mending — maybe everything all at once, or somewhere in between — trust that you are becoming.Support the show__________________________________________________________________________💜 The Leftover Pieces is support for life after suicide loss. Click links below🎙 Leave me a message: Share a question, your story, or your person’s name for a future episode → theleftoverpieces.com/voicemail 🔗 Stay connected: Join my email community for weekly support, resources, and honest conversations. 🛠 Start here: Explore website for suicide loss resources for early grief, family support, and next steps. 🤝 For moms: One-on-one grief coaching for mothers navigating life after child loss.📞 Need support right now? If you or someone you love is struggling, call or text 988 (U.S. & Canada), or text HOME to 741741.

Click to Send a Text or Voicemail to MelissaIn this episode of The Leftover Pieces; Suicide Loss Conversations, I’m joined by Sean Dadashi to explore how journaling can support healing after suicide loss. We talk about why journaling often becomes a lifeline for grievers, how reflective practices help after traumatic loss, and why having accessible tools for processing grief matters — especially in the aftermath of a death by suicide.(P.S... I use and love this app!) Sean shares his own lived experience with depression and suicidal thoughts as a teenager, and how journaling helped him survive during a time when he felt untethered and overwhelmed. That experience eventually led him to co-found Rosebud, a therapist-backed journaling app designed to support emotional awareness, reflection, and personal growth.In this conversation, we discuss the cognitive science behind journaling, why it can be especially supportive after suicide loss, and how reflective practices help grievers begin to make sense of their inner world — without replacing therapy or crisis care. We’re clear about boundaries: journaling is not treatment, and it is not emergency support — but it is a powerful companion tool for many people navigating grief and trauma.We also talk about:Why journaling after suicide loss can feel safer for some grievers than talking out loudHow micro-habits and gentle prompts support consistency without pressureThe difference between journaling, therapy, and crisis resourcesEthical technology use in mental-health spacesPrivacy, encryption, and responsible data handlingThe CARE Initiative, focused on safeguarding and accountability in mental-health technologyI also share why I personally value journaling as part of a broader support system after loss — including the option to speak rather than type, receive thoughtful prompts, and engage in reflection without having to “know what to say.”This episode is grounded, educational, and honest — offering grievers, supporters, and clinicians alike a clearer understanding of how journaling can support healing after suicide loss, while honoring the reality that no single tool is enough on its own Rosebud — Journaling App & Resources:💜 Why This Episode MattersGrieving after suicide loss can feel isolating, overwhelming, and hard to put into words. This conversation offers a grounded look at how journaling — when used ethically and intentionally — can support reflection, emotional processing, and healing alongside other Support the show__________________________________________________________________________💜 The Leftover Pieces is support for life after suicide loss. Click links below🎙 Leave me a message: Share a question, your story, or your person’s name for a future episode → theleftoverpieces.com/voicemail 🔗 Stay connected: Join my email community for weekly support, resources, and honest conversations. 🛠 Start here: Explore website for suicide loss resources for early grief, family support, and next steps. 🤝 For moms: One-on-one grief coaching for mothers navigating life after child loss.📞 Need support right now? If you or someone you love is struggling, call or text 988 (U.S. & Canada), or text HOME to 741741.

Click to Send a Text or Voicemail to MelissaA 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 AppThis is December 29 — Welcome, Fellow GrieverHonoring Survival — A Daily Journal Prompt: “What did it take for me to make it through this year?”Today’s ReflectionAs the year winds down, today’s episode offers a compassionate way to look back — without judgment, comparison, or pressure to find meaning where it doesn’t belong. Allow for plenty of grace and space my friends!Quoted or Referenced in This Episode– “The act of writing turns out to be its own reward.” — Cheryl StrayedA Gentle Closing ReminderSurvival is not small — it’s sacred.Stay Connected💜 TheLeftoverPieces.com💜 Instagram @theleftoverpieces💜 Download the Leftover Pieces AppSupport the show__________________________________________________________________________💜 The Leftover Pieces is support for life after suicide loss. Click links below🎙 Leave me a message: Share a question, your story, or your person’s name for a future episode → theleftoverpieces.com/voicemail 🔗 Stay connected: Join my email community for weekly support, resources, and honest conversations. 🛠 Start here: Explore website for suicide loss resources for early grief, family support, and next steps. 🤝 For moms: One-on-one grief coaching for mothers navigating life after child loss.📞 Need support right now? If you or someone you love is struggling, call or text 988 (U.S. & Canada), or text HOME to 741741.

Click to Send a Text or Voicemail to MelissaA 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 AppThis is December 28 — Welcome, Fellow GrieverSunday Softening — A Daily Journal Prompt: “What would it feel like to soften my expectations of myself today?”Today’s ReflectionAs the holidays fade and the year nears its end, today’s episode offers permission to slow down and let the season settle gently.Quoted or Referenced in This Episode– “You only have to let the soft animal of your body love what it loves.” — Mary OliverA Gentle Closing ReminderSoftening is not weakness — it’s wisdom.Stay Connected💜 TheLeftoverPieces.com💜 Instagram @theleftoverpieces💜 Download the Leftover Pieces AppSupport the show__________________________________________________________________________💜 The Leftover Pieces is support for life after suicide loss. Click links below🎙 Leave me a message: Share a question, your story, or your person’s name for a future episode → theleftoverpieces.com/voicemail 🔗 Stay connected: Join my email community for weekly support, resources, and honest conversations. 🛠 Start here: Explore website for suicide loss resources for early grief, family support, and next steps. 🤝 For moms: One-on-one grief coaching for mothers navigating life after child loss.📞 Need support right now? If you or someone you love is struggling, call or text 988 (U.S. & Canada), or text HOME to 741741.

Click to Send a Text or Voicemail to MelissaA 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 AppThis is December 27 — Welcome, Fellow GrieverLetting Stillness Be Enough — A Daily Journal Prompt: “What might become possible if I allow this weekend to be slower than usual?”Today’s ReflectionThe space between Christmas and the new year can feel disorienting for grievers. Today’s episode invites stillness and reminds us that slowing down is part of healing.Quoted or Referenced in This Episode– “In an age of speed, I began to think, nothing could be more invigorating than going slow.” — Pico IyerA Gentle Closing ReminderYou don’t have to fill the quiet — you can rest inside it.Stay Connected💜 TheLeftoverPieces.com💜 Instagram @theleftoverpieces💜 Download the Leftover Pieces AppSupport the show__________________________________________________________________________💜 The Leftover Pieces is support for life after suicide loss. Click links below🎙 Leave me a message: Share a question, your story, or your person’s name for a future episode → theleftoverpieces.com/voicemail 🔗 Stay connected: Join my email community for weekly support, resources, and honest conversations. 🛠 Start here: Explore website for suicide loss resources for early grief, family support, and next steps. 🤝 For moms: One-on-one grief coaching for mothers navigating life after child loss.📞 Need support right now? If you or someone you love is struggling, call or text 988 (U.S. & Canada), or text HOME to 741741.

Click to Send a Text or Voicemail to MelissaA 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 AppThis is December 26 — Welcome, Fellow GrieverAfter the Exhale — A Daily Journal Prompt: “What does my body need today as the intensity of the season begins to ease?”Today’s ReflectionAfter the holidays, many grievers experience an emotional and physical drop. Today’s episode offers compassion for that release and permission to rest without judgment.Quoted or Referenced in This Episode– “Sometimes everything has to be let go, to make room for what is real.” — David WhyteA Gentle Closing ReminderRest is not retreat — it’s recovery.Stay Connected💜 TheLeftoverPieces.com💜 Instagram @theleftoverpieces💜 Download the Leftover Pieces AppSupport the show__________________________________________________________________________💜 The Leftover Pieces is support for life after suicide loss. Click links below🎙 Leave me a message: Share a question, your story, or your person’s name for a future episode → theleftoverpieces.com/voicemail 🔗 Stay connected: Join my email community for weekly support, resources, and honest conversations. 🛠 Start here: Explore website for suicide loss resources for early grief, family support, and next steps. 🤝 For moms: One-on-one grief coaching for mothers navigating life after child loss.📞 Need support right now? If you or someone you love is struggling, call or text 988 (U.S. & Canada), or text HOME to 741741.

Click to Send a Text or Voicemail to MelissaA 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 AppThis is December 25 — Welcome, Fellow GrieverLetting the Day Be — A Daily Journal Prompt: “What is today actually like for me — not what it’s supposed to be?”Today’s ReflectionChristmas Day can hold love, grief, memory, and exhaustion all at once. Today’s reflection offers permission to let the day be what it is, without pressure to perform, reflect, or feel a certain way.Quoted or Referenced in This Episode– “We are imperfect mortal beings, aware of that mortality even as we push it away.” — Joan DidionA Gentle Closing ReminderYou don’t need to make today meaningful — your presence is enough.Stay Connected💜 TheLeftoverPieces.com💜 Instagram @theleftoverpieces💜 Download the Leftover Pieces AppSupport the show__________________________________________________________________________💜 The Leftover Pieces is support for life after suicide loss. Click links below🎙 Leave me a message: Share a question, your story, or your person’s name for a future episode → theleftoverpieces.com/voicemail 🔗 Stay connected: Join my email community for weekly support, resources, and honest conversations. 🛠 Start here: Explore website for suicide loss resources for early grief, family support, and next steps. 🤝 For moms: One-on-one grief coaching for mothers navigating life after child loss.📞 Need support right now? If you or someone you love is struggling, call or text 988 (U.S. & Canada), or text HOME to 741741.

Click to Send a Text or Voicemail to MelissaA 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 AppThis is December 24 — Welcome, Fellow GrieverFor Christmas Eve, today’s Daily Nugget is a little different.Instead of a longer reflection, Melissa shares a grief-tender reimagining of a familiar holiday reading — written to hold memory, absence, love, and quiet endurance.And the House Held Its Breath- ’Twas a Christmas Eve Rebuildingby Melissa Bottorff-Arey’Twas the night before Christmas, and all through our spaces, Our houses hold breath with slower, softer paces. Not everything sparkles, not everything shines. Some traditions rest, some moments keep time.The stockings weren’t placed the way they once were. Some memories still tender, some feelings astir. We didn’t fix everything, and we didn’t pretend. We noticed what’s missing — what there’s no way to mend.The lights felt too bright, or perhaps not enough. The songs hit a nerve, where the love meets the loss. We whisper their names in quiet in-betweens, What once was our normal, and what now isn’t seen.Somewhere a laugh lingers, familiar, alive, In the warmth of the kitchen, the joy that survived. Not the joy we went looking for, not something we planned, But a moment that found us, and then held our hand.There’s no magic tonight that makes sorrow depart, No sleigh that can mend a broke-open heart. And yet in the stillness, something remains: The love we keep carrying through the truth and the pain.So here on this evening, I offer no false cheer — Just a place for longing, the memories, the tears. And maybe a breath. And maybe a pause. And permission to hold it — with or without a 'Claus(e)'Christmas Eve — A Daily Journal Prompt:“What feels most present for me tonight — and what would it mean to let that be enough?”Stay ConnectedIf you’re a mom navigating grief and longing for steady, compassionate support, the Lighthouse Community is a gentle place to land. The first month is always free — no pressure, no obligation. You’re welcome exactly as you are.Support the show__________________________________________________________________________💜 The Leftover Pieces is support for life after suicide loss. Click links below🎙 Leave me a message: Share a question, your story, or your person’s name for a future episode → theleftoverpieces.com/voicemail 🔗 Stay connected: Join my email community for weekly support, resources, and honest conversations. 🛠 Start here: Explore website for suicide loss resources for early grief, family support, and next steps. 🤝 For moms: One-on-one grief coaching for mothers navigating life after child loss.📞 Need support right now? If you or someone you love is struggling, call or text 988 (U.S. & Canada), or text HOME to 741741.

Click to Send a Text or Voicemail to MelissaA 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 AppThis is December 23 — Welcome, Fellow GrieverThe days leading up to the holidays can feel heavier than the days themselves. Anticipation, memory, and nervous-system overload often show up before anything actually happens.Today’s Daily Nugget offers gentle permission to pause — to stop pre-handling what’s coming, and to let this moment be enough. You don’t need a plan. You don’t need a script. You don’t need to decide how you’ll feel tomorrow.Tonight is about staying close to yourself, exactly where you are.The Night Before the Big Days — A Daily Journal Prompt:“What am I carrying into the next few days — and what can I remind myself I don’t have to decide yet?”Stay ConnectedIf you’re a mom navigating life after suicide loss and craving steady, compassionate support, the Lighthouse Community is a gentle place to land. The first month is always free — no pressure, no obligation. You’re welcome exactly as you are.💜 TheLeftoverPieces.com💜 Instagram @theleftoverpieces💜 Download the Leftover Pieces AppSupport the show__________________________________________________________________________💜 The Leftover Pieces is support for life after suicide loss. Click links below🎙 Leave me a message: Share a question, your story, or your person’s name for a future episode → theleftoverpieces.com/voicemail 🔗 Stay connected: Join my email community for weekly support, resources, and honest conversations. 🛠 Start here: Explore website for suicide loss resources for early grief, family support, and next steps. 🤝 For moms: One-on-one grief coaching for mothers navigating life after child loss.📞 Need support right now? If you or someone you love is struggling, call or text 988 (U.S. & Canada), or text HOME to 741741.

Click to Send a Text or Voicemail to MelissaA 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 AppThis is December 22 — Welcome, Fellow GrieverALSO....IF YOU ARE A MOM --Please know I have added an "extra" support group meeting tonight at 8PM eastern (see the Lighthouse Community)-- because this time of year, more than ever, we need extra support!Letting Meaning Find You — A Daily Journal Prompt:“What small moment of meaning — however quiet — has touched me recently, and what did it reveal about my love or my grief?”Today’s ReflectionToday begins Week Four with an exploration of meaning — not as a solution, but as the softer, quieter ways love continues to shape your life after loss.Quoted or Referenced In This Episode– “What is to give light must endure burning.” — Viktor FranklA Gentle Closing ReminderYou don’t have to look for meaning — just stay open to it.Stay Connected💜 TheLeftoverPieces.com💜 Instagram @theleftoverpieces💜 Download the Leftover Pieces AppSupport the show__________________________________________________________________________💜 The Leftover Pieces is support for life after suicide loss. Click links below🎙 Leave me a message: Share a question, your story, or your person’s name for a future episode → theleftoverpieces.com/voicemail 🔗 Stay connected: Join my email community for weekly support, resources, and honest conversations. 🛠 Start here: Explore website for suicide loss resources for early grief, family support, and next steps. 🤝 For moms: One-on-one grief coaching for mothers navigating life after child loss.📞 Need support right now? If you or someone you love is struggling, call or text 988 (U.S. & Canada), or text HOME to 741741.

Click to Send a Text or Voicemail to MelissaA 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 AppThis is December 21 — Welcome, Fellow GrieverHolding Space for What’s Coming — A Daily Journal Prompt:“What is one gentle thing I can offer myself today as I move toward the week ahead?”Today’s ReflectionToday’s episode honors the emotional complexity of approaching a holiday week. You're invited to release urgency, breathe into the present moment, and allow yourself to feel whatever arises without judgment.Quoted or Referenced In This Episode– “Let everything happen to you: beauty and terror. Just keep going. No feeling is final.” — Rainer Maria RilkeA Gentle Closing ReminderYou don’t have to meet the week ahead before it arrives.Stay Connected💜 TheLeftoverPieces.com💜 Instagram @theleftoverpieces💜 Download the Leftover Pieces AppSupport the show__________________________________________________________________________💜 The Leftover Pieces is support for life after suicide loss. Click links below🎙 Leave me a message: Share a question, your story, or your person’s name for a future episode → theleftoverpieces.com/voicemail 🔗 Stay connected: Join my email community for weekly support, resources, and honest conversations. 🛠 Start here: Explore website for suicide loss resources for early grief, family support, and next steps. 🤝 For moms: One-on-one grief coaching for mothers navigating life after child loss.📞 Need support right now? If you or someone you love is struggling, call or text 988 (U.S. & Canada), or text HOME to 741741.

Click to Send a Text or Voicemail to MelissaA 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 AppThis is December 20 — Welcome, Fellow GrieverA Saturday to Breathe — A Daily Journal Prompt:“What space — emotional or physical — can I offer myself today, and why does it matter?”Today’s ReflectionToday’s episode acknowledges the unique emotional landscape of a December Saturday. You're invited to find small pockets of space, breath, and gentleness, whether the weekend feels soft, heavy, or anything in between.Quoted or Referenced In This Episode– “What if we joined our sorrows? What if that is joy?” — Ross GayA Gentle Closing ReminderLet today give you room to breathe.Stay Connected💜 TheLeftoverPieces.com💜 Instagram @theleftoverpieces💜 Download the Leftover Pieces AppSupport the show__________________________________________________________________________💜 The Leftover Pieces is support for life after suicide loss. Click links below🎙 Leave me a message: Share a question, your story, or your person’s name for a future episode → theleftoverpieces.com/voicemail 🔗 Stay connected: Join my email community for weekly support, resources, and honest conversations. 🛠 Start here: Explore website for suicide loss resources for early grief, family support, and next steps. 🤝 For moms: One-on-one grief coaching for mothers navigating life after child loss.📞 Need support right now? If you or someone you love is struggling, call or text 988 (U.S. & Canada), or text HOME to 741741.

Click to Send a Text or Voicemail to MelissaIn this episode of The Leftover Pieces; Suicide Loss Conversations, I’m joined by Jacquelyn Dickey, a mother navigating early suicide loss after the death of her son, Austin, who died on April 4, 2025, at the age of 30. Austin left behind a loving family — his mom, dad, younger sister Victoria, girlfriend Rachel, and his beloved dog Luna — as well as an extraordinary body of photographic work that continues to speak to his creativity and spirit.Follow The Empty Chair Movement HEREJacquelyn’s journey through grief has been uniquely courageous. Within weeks of Austin’s death, she leaned into movement, connection, and purpose — returning to horse training and immersion in things that grounded her — not to bypass her grief, but to survive alongside it. In the process, she brought Austin’s work into the world through a beautiful and powerful book, The Dash, honoring his legacy while also inviting others into honest conversation around suicide loss.You will want to add this book to your Amazon Cart -- It is incredible! We explore early grief and survival, creativity as connection, the varied ways people find a way forward, and how advocacy — through art, horses, and community — can be both deeply personal and broadly meaningful.This episode also highlights Jacqueline’s advocacy work, including the Austin Dickey Creativity in Advocacy Fund, which supports young creatives advancing mental-health awareness, and her moving freestyle performance at the 2025 Thoroughbred Makeover with her horse Donner — a moment that was widely shared for its message of resilience and hope.Episode Links & Resources 📖  The Dash — Book & Austin’s Photography  📷  Austin Dickey Creativity in Advocacy Fund 🌐 Austin’s Legacy Website 🐎 Thoroughbred Makeover 2025 — Donner & Jacqueline (YouTube) To learn more about Austin’s life, Jacqueline’s advocacy, and the legacy being built in his name, check out the links above and take time to witness the creativity, love, and meaning that continue to move forward.Support the show__________________________________________________________________________💜 The Leftover Pieces is support for life after suicide loss. Click links below🎙 Leave me a message: Share a question, your story, or your person’s name for a future episode → theleftoverpieces.com/voicemail 🔗 Stay connected: Join my email community for weekly support, resources, and honest conversations. 🛠 Start here: Explore website for suicide loss resources for early grief, family support, and next steps. 🤝 For moms: One-on-one grief coaching for mothers navigating life after child loss.📞 Need support right now? If you or someone you love is struggling, call or text 988 (U.S. & Canada), or text HOME to 741741.

Click to Send a Text or Voicemail to MelissaA 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 AppThis is December 19 — Welcome, Fellow GrieverThe Courage to Stay Soft — A Daily Journal Prompt:“What would softness look like for me today — and what truth does that softness protect?”Today’s ReflectionToday’s episode honors the courage it takes to stay soft in a season that expects performance. You’re invited to let connection be grounded in honesty rather than obligation.Quoted or Referenced In This Episode– “I found God in myself and I loved her. I loved her fiercely.” — Ntozake ShangeA Gentle Closing ReminderSoftness is courage in disguise.Stay Connected💜 TheLeftoverPieces.com💜 Instagram @theleftoverpieces💜 Download the Leftover Pieces AppSupport the show__________________________________________________________________________💜 The Leftover Pieces is support for life after suicide loss. Click links below🎙 Leave me a message: Share a question, your story, or your person’s name for a future episode → theleftoverpieces.com/voicemail 🔗 Stay connected: Join my email community for weekly support, resources, and honest conversations. 🛠 Start here: Explore website for suicide loss resources for early grief, family support, and next steps. 🤝 For moms: One-on-one grief coaching for mothers navigating life after child loss.📞 Need support right now? If you or someone you love is struggling, call or text 988 (U.S. & Canada), or text HOME to 741741.

Click to Send a Text or Voicemail to MelissaA 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 AppThis is December 18 — Welcome, Fellow GrieverA Pause to Notice Yourself — A Daily Journal Prompt:“What do I notice about myself today — emotionally, physically, spiritually — without judgment?”Today’s ReflectionToday’s episode marks the midpoint of December with an invitation to slow down and notice your inner landscape. You're reminded that self-awareness is a form of connection — with your grief, your truth, and your becoming.Quoted or Referenced In This Episode– “You only have to let the soft animal of your body love what it loves.” — Mary OliverA Gentle Closing ReminderNoticing yourself is an act of care.Stay Connected💜 TheLeftoverPieces.com💜 Instagram @theleftoverpieces💜 Download the Leftover Pieces AppSupport the show__________________________________________________________________________💜 The Leftover Pieces is support for life after suicide loss. Click links below🎙 Leave me a message: Share a question, your story, or your person’s name for a future episode → theleftoverpieces.com/voicemail 🔗 Stay connected: Join my email community for weekly support, resources, and honest conversations. 🛠 Start here: Explore website for suicide loss resources for early grief, family support, and next steps. 🤝 For moms: One-on-one grief coaching for mothers navigating life after child loss.📞 Need support right now? If you or someone you love is struggling, call or text 988 (U.S. & Canada), or text HOME to 741741.

Click to Send a Text or Voicemail to MelissaA 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 AppThis is December 17 — Welcome, Fellow GrieverLet Yourself Be Met — A Daily Journal Prompt:“What would it look like to let myself receive care in one small way today?”Today’s ReflectionToday’s episode explores the courage and complexity of receiving care while grieving. You’re invited to soften to the possibility that connection — in any form — can support you without taking away your autonomy or truth.Quoted or Referenced In This Episode– “It is a strange thing to be so broken and so whole at the same time.” — John SteinbeckA Gentle Closing ReminderYou deserve to be met exactly where you are.Stay Connected💜 TheLeftoverPieces.com💜 Instagram @theleftoverpieces💜 Download the Leftover Pieces AppSupport the show__________________________________________________________________________💜 The Leftover Pieces is support for life after suicide loss. Click links below🎙 Leave me a message: Share a question, your story, or your person’s name for a future episode → theleftoverpieces.com/voicemail 🔗 Stay connected: Join my email community for weekly support, resources, and honest conversations. 🛠 Start here: Explore website for suicide loss resources for early grief, family support, and next steps. 🤝 For moms: One-on-one grief coaching for mothers navigating life after child loss.📞 Need support right now? If you or someone you love is struggling, call or text 988 (U.S. & Canada), or text HOME to 741741.

Click to Send a Text or Voicemail to MelissaA 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 AppThis is December 16 — Welcome, Fellow GrieverThe Company You Keep — A Daily Journal Prompt: “What kind of connection feels possible for me today — with others, or with myself?”Today’s ReflectionToday’s episode continues Week Three with a reflection on connection in grief — not forced socializing or holiday expectations, but the quiet, honest companionship that meets you where you are. You’re invited to notice the places where connection, in any form, might already be reaching toward you.Quoted or Referenced In This Episode– “I want to be the wilderness, and also the path out of it.” — Ada LimónA Gentle Closing ReminderConnection doesn’t have to be loud to be real.Stay Connected💜 TheLeftoverPieces.com💜 Instagram @theleftoverpieces💜 Download the Leftover Pieces AppSupport the show__________________________________________________________________________💜 The Leftover Pieces is support for life after suicide loss. Click links below🎙 Leave me a message: Share a question, your story, or your person’s name for a future episode → theleftoverpieces.com/voicemail 🔗 Stay connected: Join my email community for weekly support, resources, and honest conversations. 🛠 Start here: Explore website for suicide loss resources for early grief, family support, and next steps. 🤝 For moms: One-on-one grief coaching for mothers navigating life after child loss.📞 Need support right now? If you or someone you love is struggling, call or text 988 (U.S. & Canada), or text HOME to 741741.

Click to Send a Text or Voicemail to MelissaA 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, and compassion. Not forced connection. Not holiday performance. But the real, humankind that meets you exactly where you are.”Get THE Leftover Pieces APP & don't miss anything!👉 The Leftover Pieces AppThis is December 15 — Welcome, Fellow GrieverCarrying What Matters Forward- A Daily Journal Prompt:“What truth from this past week do I want to carry with me — and what can I gently set down?”Today’s ReflectionAs Week Two comes to a close yesterday , today’s episode helps you reflect on what has supported you, what has drained you, and what truths you want to carry with you into the coming days. You are encouraged to honor your inner guidance as you move into a new week.Quoted or Referenced In This Episode– “You can cut all the flowers, but you cannot keep spring from coming.” — Pablo NerudaA Gentle Closing ReminderCarry forward only what supports you.Stay Connected💜 TheLeftoverPieces.com💜 Instagram @theleftoverpieces💜 Download the Leftover Pieces AppSupport the show__________________________________________________________________________💜 The Leftover Pieces is support for life after suicide loss. Click links below🎙 Leave me a message: Share a question, your story, or your person’s name for a future episode → theleftoverpieces.com/voicemail 🔗 Stay connected: Join my email community for weekly support, resources, and honest conversations. 🛠 Start here: Explore website for suicide loss resources for early grief, family support, and next steps. 🤝 For moms: One-on-one grief coaching for mothers navigating life after child loss.📞 Need support right now? If you or someone you love is struggling, call or text 988 (U.S. & Canada), or text HOME to 741741.

Click to Send a Text or Voicemail to MelissaA 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 AppThis is December 14 — Welcome, Fellow GrieverJournal PromptWhat could it look like to let today be softer on my spirit — in one small, honest way?Today’s ReflectionToday’s episode invites you into the gentleness of a Sunday in December — a day to slow down, feel your truth, and tend to your heart without pressure or expectation.Quoted or Referenced In This Episode– “The times are urgent; let us slow down.” — Bayo AkomolafeA Gentle Closing ReminderLet today be soft in whatever ways you need.Stay Connected💜 TheLeftoverPieces.com💜 Instagram @theleftoverpieces💜 Download the Leftover Pieces AppSupport the show__________________________________________________________________________💜 The Leftover Pieces is support for life after suicide loss. Click links below🎙 Leave me a message: Share a question, your story, or your person’s name for a future episode → theleftoverpieces.com/voicemail 🔗 Stay connected: Join my email community for weekly support, resources, and honest conversations. 🛠 Start here: Explore website for suicide loss resources for early grief, family support, and next steps. 🤝 For moms: One-on-one grief coaching for mothers navigating life after child loss.📞 Need support right now? If you or someone you love is struggling, call or text 988 (U.S. & Canada), or text HOME to 741741.

Click to Send a Text or Voicemail to MelissaA 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 AppThis is December 13 — Welcome, Fellow GrieverThe Impossible Math of Time (Our Birthday) - A Daily Journal Prompt:“How has grief reshaped my sense of time — and who have I become in the years between then and now?”Today’s ReflectionToday's reflection honors the impossible math of grief and time — especially on birthdays, anniversaries, and milestones. You’re invited to acknowledge every layer: the ache, the gratitude, the survival, the identity changes, and the love that continues.Quoted or Referenced In This Episode– “Where there is deep wound, there is deep understanding.” — John O’DonohueA Gentle Closing ReminderYou’re allowed to feel every layer of this day.Stay Connected💜 TheLeftoverPieces.com💜 Instagram @theleftoverpieces💜 Download the Leftover Pieces AppSupport the show__________________________________________________________________________💜 The Leftover Pieces is support for life after suicide loss. Click links below🎙 Leave me a message: Share a question, your story, or your person’s name for a future episode → theleftoverpieces.com/voicemail 🔗 Stay connected: Join my email community for weekly support, resources, and honest conversations. 🛠 Start here: Explore website for suicide loss resources for early grief, family support, and next steps. 🤝 For moms: One-on-one grief coaching for mothers navigating life after child loss.📞 Need support right now? If you or someone you love is struggling, call or text 988 (U.S. & Canada), or text HOME to 741741.

Click to Send a Text or Voicemail to MelissaA 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 AppThis is December 12 — Welcome, Fellow Griever The Softness of the Weekend - A Daily Journal PromptIf I offered myself one simple act of care this weekend, what would it look like — and why does that matter to my heart?Today’s ReflectionToday’s episode honors the softness of the weekend and invites you into self-care that feels real and honest for your grieving heart. Rest becomes an act of protection and an expression of tenderness.Quoted or Referenced In This Episode– “Rest is not a luxury; it is a spiritual discipline.” — Cole Arthur RileyA Gentle Closing ReminderLet the weekend meet you where you are.Stay Connected💜 TheLeftoverPieces.com💜 Instagram @theleftoverpieces💜 Download the Leftover Pieces AppSupport the show__________________________________________________________________________💜 The Leftover Pieces is support for life after suicide loss. Click links below🎙 Leave me a message: Share a question, your story, or your person’s name for a future episode → theleftoverpieces.com/voicemail 🔗 Stay connected: Join my email community for weekly support, resources, and honest conversations. 🛠 Start here: Explore website for suicide loss resources for early grief, family support, and next steps. 🤝 For moms: One-on-one grief coaching for mothers navigating life after child loss.📞 Need support right now? If you or someone you love is struggling, call or text 988 (U.S. & Canada), or text HOME to 741741.

Click to Send a Text or Voicemail to MelissaA 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 AppThis is December 11 — Welcome, Fellow GrieverHonoring What Helps, Releasing What Hurts - A Daily Journal Prompt: What helped me breathe a little easier today… and what felt too heavy to hold?Today’s ReflectionToday’s episode invites you to honor the shifting landscape of your grief — the changes in energy, tenderness, and resilience that shape each day in December. You're encouraged to let today be exactly what it is, without forcing it to match yesterday.Quoted or Referenced In This Episode– “If you listen closely, the body will tell you where it wants to be.” — Victoria EriksonA Gentle Closing ReminderYou’re allowed to let every day be different.Stay Connected💜 TheLeftoverPieces.com💜 Instagram @theleftoverpieces💜 Download the Leftover Pieces AppSupport the show__________________________________________________________________________💜 The Leftover Pieces is support for life after suicide loss. Click links below🎙 Leave me a message: Share a question, your story, or your person’s name for a future episode → theleftoverpieces.com/voicemail 🔗 Stay connected: Join my email community for weekly support, resources, and honest conversations. 🛠 Start here: Explore website for suicide loss resources for early grief, family support, and next steps. 🤝 For moms: One-on-one grief coaching for mothers navigating life after child loss.📞 Need support right now? If you or someone you love is struggling, call or text 988 (U.S. & Canada), or text HOME to 741741.

Click to Send a Text or Voicemail to MelissaA 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 AppThis is December 10 — Welcome, Fellow GrieverWhen ‘No’ Becomes a Gift- A Daily Journal Prompt: “Where in my life does saying ‘no’ feel like an act of self-preservation — and how might I offer myself compassion for that?”Today’s ReflectionToday’s episode explores the power of “no” as an act of care — not a rejection, not avoidance, but a way of honoring your heart, your capacity, and the realities of grief during December. Whether you’re surviving, stabilizing, rebuilding, or integrating, you’re invited to let your boundaries protect what matters most.Quoted or Referenced In This Episode– “Caring for myself is not self-indulgence, it is self-preservation.” — Audre LordeA Gentle Closing ReminderYour “no” isn’t selfish — it’s sacred.Stay Connected💜 TheLeftoverPieces.com💜 Instagram @theleftoverpieces💜 Download the Leftover Pieces AppSupport the show__________________________________________________________________________💜 The Leftover Pieces is support for life after suicide loss. Click links below🎙 Leave me a message: Share a question, your story, or your person’s name for a future episode → theleftoverpieces.com/voicemail 🔗 Stay connected: Join my email community for weekly support, resources, and honest conversations. 🛠 Start here: Explore website for suicide loss resources for early grief, family support, and next steps. 🤝 For moms: One-on-one grief coaching for mothers navigating life after child loss.📞 Need support right now? If you or someone you love is struggling, call or text 988 (U.S. & Canada), or text HOME to 741741.

Click to Send a Text or Voicemail to MelissaA 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 AppThis is December 9 — Welcome, Fellow GrieverThe Quiet Yes, The Quiet No --A Daily Journal Prompt: “What quiet yes or quiet no is whispering inside me today — and what would it feel like to honor it?”Today’s ReflectionToday’s episode explores the small but powerful choices we make in grief — the quiet yeses and quiet nos that guide us through the emotional terrain of December. Whether you’re barely surviving, gently rebuilding, or learning to integrate grief with moments of joy, you’re invited to listen for what your heart is softly asking today.Quoted or Referenced In This Episode– “If someone does not want me, it is not the end of the world. But if I do not want me, the world is nothing.” — Nayyirah WaheedA Gentle Closing ReminderEven your smallest yes — and your smallest no — deserve respect.Stay Connected💜 TheLeftoverPieces.com💜 Instagram @theleftoverpieces💜 Download the Leftover Pieces AppSupport the show__________________________________________________________________________💜 The Leftover Pieces is support for life after suicide loss. Click links below🎙 Leave me a message: Share a question, your story, or your person’s name for a future episode → theleftoverpieces.com/voicemail 🔗 Stay connected: Join my email community for weekly support, resources, and honest conversations. 🛠 Start here: Explore website for suicide loss resources for early grief, family support, and next steps. 🤝 For moms: One-on-one grief coaching for mothers navigating life after child loss.📞 Need support right now? If you or someone you love is struggling, call or text 988 (U.S. & Canada), or text HOME to 741741.

Click to Send a Text or Voicemail to MelissaA 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 AppThis is December 8 — Welcome, Fellow GrieverBoundaries as Care -- A Daily Journal Prompt: “What is one boundary my heart is asking for today — and what truth does that boundary protect?”Today’s ReflectionToday’s episode opens Week Two with a tender look at boundaries — not as walls, but as acts of care that protect your energy through the complexity of December. Whether you’re surviving, rebuilding, or evolving into a life touched by both grief and meaning, this reflection invites you to honor what your heart can hold today.Community Note (for moms)Tonight at 8 p.m. Eastern is our Second Monday Support Meeting inside The Lighthouse Community. If you’re not a member yet, your first month is free so you can join gently and see if the space supports you.Quoted or Referenced In This Episode– “I love the thing that I most wish had not happened.” — Stephen Colbert – Reflections on grief, compassion, and capacityA Gentle Closing ReminderYour boundaries are allowed to shift as you shift.Stay Connected💜 TheLeftoverPieces.com💜 Instagram @theleftoverpieces💜 Download the Leftover Pieces AppSupport the show__________________________________________________________________________💜 The Leftover Pieces is support for life after suicide loss. Click links below🎙 Leave me a message: Share a question, your story, or your person’s name for a future episode → theleftoverpieces.com/voicemail 🔗 Stay connected: Join my email community for weekly support, resources, and honest conversations. 🛠 Start here: Explore website for suicide loss resources for early grief, family support, and next steps. 🤝 For moms: One-on-one grief coaching for mothers navigating life after child loss.📞 Need support right now? If you or someone you love is struggling, call or text 988 (U.S. & Canada), or text HOME to 741741.

Click to Send a Text or Voicemail to MelissaA 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 AppThis is December 7 — Welcome, Fellow GrieverToday’s ReflectionSeven days into December, today’s episode reflects on the strength, tenderness, and full humanity required to move through this month while living with suicide loss. You’re reminded that wherever you are in your grief — surviving, rebuilding, evolving, or integrating — your presence in this moment matters.Quoted or Referenced In This Episode– “Grief is like a cruel kind of education.” — Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie – “We keep those we’ve lost alive by the way we remember them.” — Anderson CooperA Gentle Closing ReminderWhat you’ve carried this week — and how you’ve carried it — is enough.Stay Connected💜 TheLeftoverPieces.com💜 Instagram @theleftoverpieces💜 Download the Leftover Pieces AppSupport the show__________________________________________________________________________💜 The Leftover Pieces is support for life after suicide loss. Click links below🎙 Leave me a message: Share a question, your story, or your person’s name for a future episode → theleftoverpieces.com/voicemail 🔗 Stay connected: Join my email community for weekly support, resources, and honest conversations. 🛠 Start here: Explore website for suicide loss resources for early grief, family support, and next steps. 🤝 For moms: One-on-one grief coaching for mothers navigating life after child loss.📞 Need support right now? If you or someone you love is struggling, call or text 988 (U.S. & Canada), or text HOME to 741741.

Click to Send a Text or Voicemail to MelissaA 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 AppThis is December 6 — Welcome, Fellow GrieverToday’s ReflectionToday’s episode honors rest as both resistance and renewal. Whether you're barely surviving, rebuilding your foundation, or beginning to reconnect with moments of joy or purpose, this reflection invites you to trust the wisdom of your energy and move through the day in a way that supports your grieving heart.Quoted or Referenced In This Episode– “Grief is not a problem to be solved; it’s an experience to be carried.” — Megan Devine – Reflections from Anderson Cooper on carrying grief and love togetherA Gentle Closing ReminderHowever, rest shows up for you today, let it be enough.Stay Connected💜 TheLeftoverPieces.com💜 Instagram @theleftoverpieces 💜 Download the Leftover Pieces AppSupport the show__________________________________________________________________________💜 The Leftover Pieces is support for life after suicide loss. Click links below🎙 Leave me a message: Share a question, your story, or your person’s name for a future episode → theleftoverpieces.com/voicemail 🔗 Stay connected: Join my email community for weekly support, resources, and honest conversations. 🛠 Start here: Explore website for suicide loss resources for early grief, family support, and next steps. 🤝 For moms: One-on-one grief coaching for mothers navigating life after child loss.📞 Need support right now? If you or someone you love is struggling, call or text 988 (U.S. & Canada), or text HOME to 741741.

Click to Send a Text or Voicemail to MelissaA 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 AppThis is December 5 — Welcome, Fellow GrieverToday’s ReflectionToday’s episode invites you to let your heart — not December’s expectations — guide your pace. Whether you're barely surviving, rebuilding your foundations, or beginning to reconnect with joy and meaning, you are reminded that you don’t have to hold everything this month asks of you.Quoted or Referenced In This Episode– “No one ever told me that grief felt so like fear.” — C.S. Lewis – Reflections from Anderson Cooper on grief, grace, and surviving the dayA Gentle Closing ReminderYou’re allowed to choose what you carry today — and what you set down.Stay Connected💜 TheLeftoverPieces.com💜 Instagram @theleftoverpieces💜 Download the Leftover Pieces AppSupport the show__________________________________________________________________________💜 The Leftover Pieces is support for life after suicide loss. Click links below🎙 Leave me a message: Share a question, your story, or your person’s name for a future episode → theleftoverpieces.com/voicemail 🔗 Stay connected: Join my email community for weekly support, resources, and honest conversations. 🛠 Start here: Explore website for suicide loss resources for early grief, family support, and next steps. 🤝 For moms: One-on-one grief coaching for mothers navigating life after child loss.📞 Need support right now? If you or someone you love is struggling, call or text 988 (U.S. & Canada), or text HOME to 741741.

Click to Send a Text or Voicemail to MelissaA 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 AppThis is December 4 — Welcome, Fellow GrieverTonight is our Full Moon Intention Gathering inside The Lighthouse Community. If you’re a mom and want a gentle space to connect, breathe, and set intentions together, you’re welcome to join. 💜 See the community details on my websiteToday’s ReflectionToday’s episode explores what it means to allow yourself soft landings in a season that can feel sharp and demanding. You’re reminded that gentleness isn’t indulgence — it’s part of survival when grieving during the holidays.Quoted or Referenced In This Episode– “You don’t get over it. You just get used to it.” — Billy Bob Thornton – “Almost everything will work again if you unplug it for a few minutes — including you.” — Anne LamottA Gentle Closing ReminderLet yourself arrive softly today. You deserve moments of ease, even in December.Stay Connected💜 TheLeftoverPieces.com💜 Instagram @theleftoverpieces💜 Follow along in the Leftover Pieces AppSupport the show__________________________________________________________________________💜 The Leftover Pieces is support for life after suicide loss. Click links below🎙 Leave me a message: Share a question, your story, or your person’s name for a future episode → theleftoverpieces.com/voicemail 🔗 Stay connected: Join my email community for weekly support, resources, and honest conversations. 🛠 Start here: Explore website for suicide loss resources for early grief, family support, and next steps. 🤝 For moms: One-on-one grief coaching for mothers navigating life after child loss.📞 Need support right now? If you or someone you love is struggling, call or text 988 (U.S. & Canada), or text HOME to 741741.

Click to Send a Text or Voicemail to MelissaA 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 AppIt is December 3 - welcome, Fellow GrieverToday’s ReflectionToday’s episode explores how grief and grace can coexist in December, even when the world feels loud and expectant. You are reminded that you don’t owe anyone emotional performance — honesty and gentleness are enough.Quoted or Referenced In This Episode– “Grief turns out to be a place none of us know until we reach it.” — Joan Didion – Reflections from Stephen Colbert on love, loss, and gratitudeA Gentle Closing ReminderYou’re allowed to carry grief and grace together. Let today be soft where it can be.Stay Connected💜 TheLeftoverPieces.com💜 Instagram @theleftoverpieces💜 Follow along in the Leftover Pieces AppSupport the show__________________________________________________________________________💜 The Leftover Pieces is support for life after suicide loss. Click links below🎙 Leave me a message: Share a question, your story, or your person’s name for a future episode → theleftoverpieces.com/voicemail 🔗 Stay connected: Join my email community for weekly support, resources, and honest conversations. 🛠 Start here: Explore website for suicide loss resources for early grief, family support, and next steps. 🤝 For moms: One-on-one grief coaching for mothers navigating life after child loss.📞 Need support right now? If you or someone you love is struggling, call or text 988 (U.S. & Canada), or text HOME to 741741.

Click to Send a Text or Voicemail to MelissaA 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 AppThis is December 2, Welcome Fellow GrieverToday’s ReflectionDecember brings an avalanche of “shoulds,” especially after suicide loss. Today’s episode invites you to release the unrealistic expectations the world places on grieving hearts — and to honor the truth of where you actually are.Quoted or Referenced In This Episode– “Grief never ends. It just changes shape.” — Anderson Cooper – “What punishments of God are not gifts?” — Stephen ColbertA Gentle Closing ReminderYou don’t owe December a performance or a former version of yourself. Let today be honest, gentle, and yours.Stay Connected💜 Use the Leftover Pieces App for bonus support and community. 💜 Find all episodes & resources at TheLeftoverPieces.com 💜 Follow on Instagram @theleftoverpiecesSupport the show__________________________________________________________________________💜 The Leftover Pieces is support for life after suicide loss. Click links below🎙 Leave me a message: Share a question, your story, or your person’s name for a future episode → theleftoverpieces.com/voicemail 🔗 Stay connected: Join my email community for weekly support, resources, and honest conversations. 🛠 Start here: Explore website for suicide loss resources for early grief, family support, and next steps. 🤝 For moms: One-on-one grief coaching for mothers navigating life after child loss.📞 Need support right now? If you or someone you love is struggling, call or text 988 (U.S. & Canada), or text HOME to 741741.

Click to Send a Text or Voicemail to MelissaSurviving 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 AppToday’s ReflectionDecember has a way of showing up before our hearts are ready. Today’s episode offers permission to start this month exactly where you actually are — messy, tired, hopeful, aching, or all of the above. When the outer world speeds up, your inner truth is allowed to slow down.Quoted or Referenced In This Episode – “To be human is to become visible while carrying what is hidden…” — David WhyteA Gentle Closing ReminderYou don’t have to match the world’s pace or energy today. Your honesty is enough, and beginning December from the place you are — not the place you’re expected to be — is an act of courage.Stay Connected💜 Use the Leftover Pieces App for bonus support, resources, and community. 💜 Find all podcast episodes & grief resources at TheLeftoverPieces.com 💜 Follow on Instagram @theleftoverpiecesSupport the show__________________________________________________________________________💜 The Leftover Pieces is support for life after suicide loss. Click links below🎙 Leave me a message: Share a question, your story, or your person’s name for a future episode → theleftoverpieces.com/voicemail 🔗 Stay connected: Join my email community for weekly support, resources, and honest conversations. 🛠 Start here: Explore website for suicide loss resources for early grief, family support, and next steps. 🤝 For moms: One-on-one grief coaching for mothers navigating life after child loss.📞 Need support right now? If you or someone you love is struggling, call or text 988 (U.S. & Canada), or text HOME to 741741.

Click to Send a Text or Voicemail to MelissaToday 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 work. It ended up being one of the most transformational pieces of my own healing when I felt completely stuck. That experience with her is a big part of what led me into the work I do today.In this conversation, Emily and I talk about why the mind can hold us in place long after the early years of grief, and how subconscious work can gently open the next chapter. She breaks down how unconscious patterns form, why traditional “talking it through” doesn’t always create change, and what actually helps fear and overwhelm loosen their grip.If you’re farther along in your grief and feeling like you’ve hit an internal wall you can’t quite name, this episode will meet you right there.What We CoverWhy we get “stuck” even years after lossHow subconscious patterns form and how they’re rewiredThe difference between understanding your story vs. releasing itWhat unconscious mind work and hypnosis actually do (in simple language)How clearing fear at the root supports deeper healingEmily’s own turning point with anxiety and burnoutPractical tools for calming the nervous system and building inner confidenceAbout EmilyEmily is trained in NLP Master Coaching & Hypnotherapy, NLP & Hypnosis Training, CranioSacral Therapy, Huna, Ho‘oponopono, Coaching the Unconscious Mind, and Integrative Hypnosis. Her work gets to the root of stuck patterns without rehashing trauma or digging for drama.Connect with EmilyHer Website: https://www.emilydziedzic.com And Her Instagram HereSupport the show__________________________________________________________________________💜 The Leftover Pieces is support for life after suicide loss. Click links below🎙 Leave me a message: Share a question, your story, or your person’s name for a future episode → theleftoverpieces.com/voicemail 🔗 Stay connected: Join my email community for weekly support, resources, and honest conversations. 🛠 Start here: Explore website for suicide loss resources for early grief, family support, and next steps. 🤝 For moms: One-on-one grief coaching for mothers navigating life after child loss.📞 Need support right now? If you or someone you love is struggling, call or text 988 (U.S. & Canada), or text HOME to 741741.

Click to Send a Text or Voicemail to MelissaGet 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 tomorrow: one light/witnessing anchor, one 7–10 minute brick, one value-aligned step. Then step into November by adding a calendar block titled “Rough Day Plan” and pasting your flicker-brick-step and threshold ritual into the description.Choose-your-energy menu:Hollow (low): Copy your October sentence onto a sticky or lock screen.Healing (medium): Set the 24-hour weave for tomorrow (flicker, brick, step).Becoming (higher): Add the “Rough Day Plan” block weekly through November.To end today -- to end the month: This work was never about being fixed. It’s about being held—by small, repeatable moves that meet you where you actually live. On the hard days ahead, you don’t have to invent courage; you can borrow it from your own practice: speak their name, steady your body, take one step that includes you. That is how the season gets survivable—one honest inch at a time.Community & App (don’t miss this): The Leftover Pieces app keeps your support close—calendar, resources, meetups, and one-tap entry to the Lighthouse Community. Anyone can download it to follow along; if you’re a community member or former client, the app makes access effortless. Inside: multiple support groups, a monthly Full Moon ritual, guest LIVE events, an ever-growing resource library, chats, and more. The first month of community is always on me—because I believe that deeply in what it’s becoming. Come in when you’re ready; everything’s easier in the app.Exhale. Keep what serves you; leave the rest. I’ll be here again tomorrow. 💜Support the show__________________________________________________________________________💜 The Leftover Pieces is support for life after suicide loss. Click links below🎙 Leave me a message: Share a question, your story, or your person’s name for a future episode → theleftoverpieces.com/voicemail 🔗 Stay connected: Join my email community for weekly support, resources, and honest conversations. 🛠 Start here: Explore website for suicide loss resources for early grief, family support, and next steps. 🤝 For moms: One-on-one grief coaching for mothers navigating life after child loss.📞 Need support right now? If you or someone you love is struggling, call or text 988 (U.S. & Canada), or text HOME to 741741.

Click to Send a Text or Voicemail to MelissaGet 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 threshold (Open • Be in it • Close) with one pacing move on your calendar (opt out/leave early/tap-in ally). Step by doing one ten-minute value act today (“I live kindness by sending a three-sentence encouragement”), and schedule it twice next week so repetition does the heavy lifting.Choose-your-energy menu:Hollow (low): Speak one identity word out loud and rest your hand on your chest.Healing (medium): Use Open + Close around one task today.Becoming (higher): Do your 10-minute value act and schedule it twice for next week.To end today: Becoming isn’t betrayal; it’s continuity. You’re letting love move through you in shapes that fit the life you have now. The point isn’t to be unhurt—it’s to be resourced. When you combine a true word about who you are, a humane boundary, and one small act, you reclaim choice without abandoning your grief.Exhale. Keep what serves you; leave the rest. I’ll be here again tomorrow. 💜Support the show__________________________________________________________________________💜 The Leftover Pieces is support for life after suicide loss. Click links below🎙 Leave me a message: Share a question, your story, or your person’s name for a future episode → theleftoverpieces.com/voicemail 🔗 Stay connected: Join my email community for weekly support, resources, and honest conversations. 🛠 Start here: Explore website for suicide loss resources for early grief, family support, and next steps. 🤝 For moms: One-on-one grief coaching for mothers navigating life after child loss.📞 Need support right now? If you or someone you love is struggling, call or text 988 (U.S. & Canada), or text HOME to 741741.

Click to Send a Text or Voicemail to MelissaGet 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 minutes: one body reset (3-3-6 breath or warm/cold contrast), one Brick-of-the-Day (clear a square, pay one bill), and one connection move (five-minute witnessing ask or self-witness memo). Step by pinning a note titled “Weeks 1–2 Keepers” so it’s one tap away on rough days.Choose-your-energy menu:Hollow (low): Do one flicker only. Stop there.Healing (medium): Run the mini stack with a timer and drink water afterward.Becoming (higher): Schedule the mini stack three times over the next seven days.To end today: You don’t have to remember the whole month when grief blindsides you—just where to begin. Ten minutes of practiced care beats an hour of bargaining with yourself. Keep your kit within reach. Familiar steps don’t trivialize your pain; they give it rails to run on so you can make it through the day you’re in.Exhale. Keep what serves you; leave the rest. I’ll be here again tomorrow. 💜Support the show__________________________________________________________________________💜 The Leftover Pieces is support for life after suicide loss. Click links below🎙 Leave me a message: Share a question, your story, or your person’s name for a future episode → theleftoverpieces.com/voicemail 🔗 Stay connected: Join my email community for weekly support, resources, and honest conversations. 🛠 Start here: Explore website for suicide loss resources for early grief, family support, and next steps. 🤝 For moms: One-on-one grief coaching for mothers navigating life after child loss.📞 Need support right now? If you or someone you love is struggling, call or text 988 (U.S. & Canada), or text HOME to 741741.

Click to Send a Text or Voicemail to MelissaGet 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 her by name; name one practice that steadied you; offer one boundary to keep; name one touchstone to carry; close with permission to opt out/leave early/ask for help. Then step by delivering it—email it to yourself with the subject “Open Nov 1,” or schedule it as a calendar note. Bonus: read it out loud, so your body hears your care.Choose-your-energy menu:Hollow (low): Write sentence #2 (what helped) and #5 (permission). Stop there.Healing (medium): Write all five sentences and schedule delivery.Becoming (higher): Share the letter with a safe person and ask them to check in the first week of November.To end today: Future-you doesn’t need perfection; you needs proof you’re on your side. Kind instructions travel farther than pressure because they’re believable on a hard morning or any hard time. When the first cold week hits, you won’t have to reinvent care—you’ll open your note and follow the warmest path you already walked.Exhale. Keep what serves you; leave the rest. I’ll be here again tomorrow. 💜Support the show__________________________________________________________________________💜 The Leftover Pieces is support for life after suicide loss. Click links below🎙 Leave me a message: Share a question, your story, or your person’s name for a future episode → theleftoverpieces.com/voicemail 🔗 Stay connected: Join my email community for weekly support, resources, and honest conversations. 🛠 Start here: Explore website for suicide loss resources for early grief, family support, and next steps. 🤝 For moms: One-on-one grief coaching for mothers navigating life after child loss.📞 Need support right now? If you or someone you love is struggling, call or text 988 (U.S. & Canada), or text HOME to 741741.

Click to Send a Text or Voicemail to MelissaGet 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 one sentence you can actually say out loud: “I’m keeping things simple this year.” Then rebuild by placing that sentence where your future self will find it—save it as a text snippet, pin it in notes, or draft it to your ally with, “If I freeze, please echo this for me.” Finally, step by using the line once in a low-stakes context (rescheduling coffee, leaving a call early) so your nervous system remembers it works when the stakes are higher.Choose-your-energy menu:Hollow (low): Choose one sentence and save it to notes. Read it once aloud.Healing (medium): Send your line to one ally and ask them to back you up if needed.Becoming (higher): Use the line once this week in a gentle situation and log how your body felt after.To end today: Permission isn’t about winning arguments; it’s about staying intact. Clear sentences shrink the distance between what you feel and what you say, which lowers the cost of showing up. Some people may not love your limits, and that’s information—not a mandate to abandon yourself. Practice now, in easy places, so your words are ready when the room gets loud.Exhale. Keep what serves you; leave the rest. I’ll be here again tomorrow. 💜Support the show__________________________________________________________________________💜 The Leftover Pieces is support for life after suicide loss. Click links below🎙 Leave me a message: Share a question, your story, or your person’s name for a future episode → theleftoverpieces.com/voicemail 🔗 Stay connected: Join my email community for weekly support, resources, and honest conversations. 🛠 Start here: Explore website for suicide loss resources for early grief, family support, and next steps. 🤝 For moms: One-on-one grief coaching for mothers navigating life after child loss.📞 Need support right now? If you or someone you love is struggling, call or text 988 (U.S. & Canada), or text HOME to 741741.

Click to Send a Text or Voicemail to MelissaGet 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. Rebuild with a quick three-column check: KEEP (works), DROP (drains), ADJUST (tweak). Aim for three bullets total; simple wins. Then step by committing to one change—schedule the keeper as a repeating block, remove a drainer from the calendar, or place an object (candle, water bottle, bracelet) where it will cue the tweak.Choose-your-energy menu:Hollow (low): Write one KEEP item. Stop there.Healing (medium): Do the full three-column check and circle one line.Becoming (higher): Put the circled item on your calendar with a repeat.To end today:Editing your grief life is an act of respect—for your person and for your nervous system. After suicide loss, you don’t owe the world the version of you that bleeds the most to prove you loved them. Keep what steadies you, drop what drains you, and adjust the practices that almost work. This is not giving up; it’s maturing your care. Let the metrics be honest: Did I breathe easier? Did recovery time shorten? Did I feel even a sliver more like myself? Put the keepers on repeat and let the rest go without a courtroom trial. Your energy is finite and precious; spend it where love can actually build something. Exhale. Keep what serves you; leave the rest. I’ll be here again tomorrow. 💜Support the show__________________________________________________________________________💜 The Leftover Pieces is support for life after suicide loss. Click links below🎙 Leave me a message: Share a question, your story, or your person’s name for a future episode → theleftoverpieces.com/voicemail 🔗 Stay connected: Join my email community for weekly support, resources, and honest conversations. 🛠 Start here: Explore website for suicide loss resources for early grief, family support, and next steps. 🤝 For moms: One-on-one grief coaching for mothers navigating life after child loss.📞 Need support right now? If you or someone you love is struggling, call or text 988 (U.S. & Canada), or text HOME to 741741.

Click to Send a Text or Voicemail to MelissaGet THE Leftover Pieces APP & don't miss anything! CLICK HERE TODAY -- Touchstones let love travel with you without making every minute heavy.Journal prompt: “What I’m keeping from this month is…”Choose one flicker that feels like company: a phrase they loved, ten seconds of their song, a color that calls them to mind. Rebuild by placing a tiny touchstone where real life happens—light a candle at dinner, wear the bracelet, set a photo by the door, speak their name before you leave the house. Then step by anchoring it to a daily moment: “When I grab my keys, I touch the bracelet,” or “When the kettle clicks, I say their name.” Small, repeatable, merciful.Choose-your-energy menu:Hollow (low): Speak their name once and place a hand on your chest.Healing (medium): Put one touchstone where you’ll naturally see/use it.Becoming (higher): Share your touchstone plan with a safe person and invite them to mirror it once this week.To end today:Legacy is not a museum; it’s a living room. Touchstones let love move with you—into the kitchen, the car, the checkout line—without requiring a speech every time. After a suicide, memory can feel sharp or complicated; gentle, chosen rituals blunt the edge just enough to hold it. Speaking their name before you leave the house or hearing ten seconds of “their” song is not dwelling—it’s belonging. You’re showing your body that remembering is allowed and survivable. If a touchstone stings today, choose a lighter one; the goal isn’t performance, it’s companionship. Over time, these tiny ties stitch a steadier way to carry them forward without disappearing yourself. Exhale. Keep what serves you; leave the rest. I’ll be here again tomorrow. 💜Support the show__________________________________________________________________________💜 The Leftover Pieces is support for life after suicide loss. Click links below🎙 Leave me a message: Share a question, your story, or your person’s name for a future episode → theleftoverpieces.com/voicemail 🔗 Stay connected: Join my email community for weekly support, resources, and honest conversations. 🛠 Start here: Explore website for suicide loss resources for early grief, family support, and next steps. 🤝 For moms: One-on-one grief coaching for mothers navigating life after child loss.📞 Need support right now? If you or someone you love is struggling, call or text 988 (U.S. & Canada), or text HOME to 741741.

Click to Send a Text or Voicemail to MelissaReacting vs. Responding in Grief — Life After Suicide LossToday I’m “down the rabbit hole,” teasing apart reacting vs. responding after traumatic loss—not to shame reactions (they’re human), but to widen the space where we can choose. We’ll touch nervous-system patterns (fight/flight/freeze/fawn/flop), how to spot activation in real time, and how tiny, honest choices build a life aligned with values.If you’ve been listening to October’s Daily Nuggets, this pairs with Hope → Healing → Becoming very wellReaction: fast, automatic, discomfort-ending; urgent; body running the show. Response: chosen, value-aligned; includes feelings; checks context/impact. After suicide loss, we’re not “broken,” we’re activated. The work is creating a small gap between impulse and action so love gets a say.Five protection styles (no shame, just data): Fight • Flight • Freeze • Fawn • Flop Tiny mantra: “My body is loud. I don’t have to obey it.”How to tell you’re reacting (so you can pivot): Body (jaw/chest/gut, heat/cold, tunnel vision, fatigue) • Thoughts (catastrophe, always/never, fixing others) • Behavior (fast texts, ghosting, auto-yes). Common activators: the day they died (aka 'the worst day'), songs, smells, certain phrases, etc—treat as green lights to pause.I give a real, recent example in the episode of how this concept shows up for me now that I am more practiced at responding over being on autopilot and just reacting.... AND here are two grounded general (common) examples:The Hot Text: Phone face-down → 3 breaths → “This is fight” → normalize → draft, don’t send → after sleep, keep 2 lines, delete 10. Relationship and nervous system preserved.The Family Invite: Values check (honesty, tenderness, capacity) → two-liner: “Thanks for including me. I’m keeping things gentle this month and won’t make it, but I’m sending love.”Top 5 tools (details in the PDF inside the Lighthouse Community Library)Thread back to Hope → Healing → Becoming Hope = capacity (not cheer). Healing = nervous-system literacy. Becoming = the widening gap between impulse and action—where love, truth, and capacity meet.“When the wave lifts, I do not argue the sea. I plant my feet, name the water, and choose the next breath.” 💜Community Soon you will find the Download with examples in the Library inside The Moms Lighthouse Community (link below)Support the show__________________________________________________________________________💜 The Leftover Pieces is support for life after suicide loss. Click links below🎙 Leave me a message: Share a question, your story, or your person’s name for a future episode → theleftoverpieces.com/voicemail 🔗 Stay connected: Join my email community for weekly support, resources, and honest conversations. 🛠 Start here: Explore website for suicide loss resources for early grief, family support, and next steps. 🤝 For moms: One-on-one grief coaching for mothers navigating life after child loss.📞 Need support right now? If you or someone you love is struggling, call or text 988 (U.S. & Canada), or text HOME to 741741.

Click to Send a Text or Voicemail to MelissaGet THE Leftover Pieces APP & don't miss anything! CLICK HERE TODAY -- The season gets crowded. Capacity isn’t disloyalty—it’s logistics for a heart carrying a lot.Journal prompt: “A boundary that made room for me was…”Choose your pace before the week chooses it for you. Let a flicker of relief lead: make one clear decision today and notice your shoulders drop. Rebuild with a concrete move—opt out (“Not this year”), leave early (“I can stay 45 minutes”), or tap-in an ally (someone who runs interference or signals the exit). Then step it onto the calendar: add start/exit times or your ally’s name and plan in the event notes so Future-You doesn’t have to negotiate in the moment.Choose-your-energy menu:Hollow (low): Remove one non-essential event this week.Healing (medium): Add an exit time to one commitment and text your ally.Becoming (higher): Add pacing notes to three upcoming events (opt out / leave early / ally + signal).To end today:Grief after suicide rarely fits the calendar the world hands you. Pacing isn’t selfish; it’s survival planning for a heart that’s still rebuilding. When you opt out, leave early, or bring an ally, you’re not disrespecting tradition—you’re refusing to sacrifice yourself to it. Your capacity will change week to week; let your plans change with it. The people who love you can handle clarity, and the ones who can’t are telling you something useful. There is no prize for white-knuckling through an event that costs you three days of recovery. Choose the version of participation that lets you wake up tomorrow with a little more breath than today. Exhale. Keep what serves you; leave the rest. I’ll be here again tomorrow. 💜Support the show__________________________________________________________________________💜 The Leftover Pieces is support for life after suicide loss. Click links below🎙 Leave me a message: Share a question, your story, or your person’s name for a future episode → theleftoverpieces.com/voicemail 🔗 Stay connected: Join my email community for weekly support, resources, and honest conversations. 🛠 Start here: Explore website for suicide loss resources for early grief, family support, and next steps. 🤝 For moms: One-on-one grief coaching for mothers navigating life after child loss.📞 Need support right now? If you or someone you love is struggling, call or text 988 (U.S. & Canada), or text HOME to 741741.

Click to Send a Text or Voicemail to MelissaGet THE Leftover Pieces APP & don't miss anything! CLICK HERE TODAY -- When grief spikes—anniversaries, rooms that hold their echo—having a beginning and an ending lets your body know you’re not trapped inside the moment.Journal prompt: “My threshold ritual will be…”Hard moments deserve structure. Begin with a flicker that signals you’re entering on purpose—touch a photo or step outside and name the sky. Move into rebuild with a simple be-in-it container: time-box twenty minutes, breathe a long exhale on the minute, keep a touchstone in your hand. Then step out with a deliberate close: blow out the candle, wash hands or face, step outside and say, “I’m done for today.” Rehearse the three beats once on something smaller (scrolling photos, one phone call) so your body recognizes the exits when it counts.Choose-your-energy menu:Hollow (low): Do only the Close after a hard moment—wash hands, step outside, say “I’m done for today.”Healing (medium): Use Open + Close around one task (light candle → do the thing → blow it out).Becoming (higher): Run all three beats on a planned event; set a timer and jot one line afterward about what helped.To end today: Thresholds aren’t superstition; they’re trauma-aware choreography. When suicide loss surges, your body loses track of time—starts feel like ambushes and ends feel impossible. A simple open/close tells your nervous system, “There’s a door here.” You get to enter remembering on purpose, be with it for a finite span, and then leave with your dignity intact. If someone doesn’t understand why you wash your hands after scrolling or blow out a candle after a hard conversation, that’s fine—the ritual isn’t for them. It’s a breadcrumb trail for you, a way to keep love close without letting pain run the whole house. Practice on small moments now so, on the big ones, your feet already know the way out. Exhale. Keep what serves you; leave the rest. I’ll be here again tomorrow. 💜Support the show__________________________________________________________________________💜 The Leftover Pieces is support for life after suicide loss. Click links below🎙 Leave me a message: Share a question, your story, or your person’s name for a future episode → theleftoverpieces.com/voicemail 🔗 Stay connected: Join my email community for weekly support, resources, and honest conversations. 🛠 Start here: Explore website for suicide loss resources for early grief, family support, and next steps. 🤝 For moms: One-on-one grief coaching for mothers navigating life after child loss.📞 Need support right now? If you or someone you love is struggling, call or text 988 (U.S. & Canada), or text HOME to 741741.

Click to Send a Text or Voicemail to MelissaGet THE Leftover Pieces APP & don't miss anything! CLICK HERE TODAY -- No heroics required. A window of light, a seven-minute finish, and a two-sentence check-in can turn a spinning day into a survivable one. Journal prompt: “What I’m keeping from this month is…”Your Personal Flicker–Brick–Step Plan (Rough-Day Ready) On the days when suicide loss surges—the date you didn’t mean to remember, the song that blindsides you, the blame-loop at 2 a.m.—you don’t need pep. You need a plan that can meet the wave.Rough days deserve a plan you can run on muscle memory. Start with a flicker that honors your grief, not erases it: stand by a window, touch their bracelet or photo, say their name and yours. Let that cue your rebuild—one small brick that steadies a body carrying trauma: a 7-minute shower; light a candle and breathe a longer exhale; clear the memorial corner’s surface so it feels gentler to approach; text one survivor-friend “no fixing—just witness?” Then take a step that carries them forward with you: add one line to your witness log about a memory; schedule the support group link for tonight; send a two-sentence check-in to another bereaved parent. This isn’t moving on. It’s moving with.Choose-your-energy menu:Hollow (low): Stand by a window holding their item (or hand on heart). Say, “I miss you, and I’m breathing.” Five long exhales. If tears come, that’s capacity doing its job; you’re done for today.Healing (medium): Do the flicker and one 7–10 minute brick aimed at activation (shower; clear one square; light candle + 3 rounds of 3-3-6 breath). When the timer dings, stop. Drink a full glass of water.Becoming (higher): Run all three: flicker → brick → step that carries forward (add a memory line, send the group RSVP, message a survivor ally for a 10-minute call). Save a pinned note titled “Rough-Day Plan: name • candle • 7-min shower • text Jess.”As we end today: Pre-deciding isn’t performative strength; it’s trauma care. A grief-true plan—speak their name, regulate your body, take one carrying-forward step—cuts through shame and gives the wave somewhere to go. Keep the structure, flex the pieces. On the worst days, being held by three simple moves is courage.Exhale. Keep what serves you; leave the rest. I’ll be here again tomorrow. 💜Support the show__________________________________________________________________________💜 The Leftover Pieces is support for life after suicide loss. Click links below🎙 Leave me a message: Share a question, your story, or your person’s name for a future episode → theleftoverpieces.com/voicemail 🔗 Stay connected: Join my email community for weekly support, resources, and honest conversations. 🛠 Start here: Explore website for suicide loss resources for early grief, family support, and next steps. 🤝 For moms: One-on-one grief coaching for mothers navigating life after child loss.📞 Need support right now? If you or someone you love is struggling, call or text 988 (U.S. & Canada), or text HOME to 741741.

Click to Send a Text or Voicemail to MelissaYou don’t need a five-year plan; one clear next action can steady the day in life after suicide loss. Journal prompt:  “When I picture myself exhaling tomorrow, the action that gets me there is…” What we mean by a “one-inch plan” (so we’re clear): A one-inch plan is small, specific, and scheduled—just enough structure to steady tomorrow without overwhelming today. Examples:Admin inch: “Print the form and put it by the door at 7:30 a.m.”Body inch: “Walk to the mailbox at 3:00 p.m., phone off.”Connection inch: “Text Sam at noon: ‘Thinking of you—no need to respond.’” Keep it to one action, one support, one time. If it takes more than 10 minutes to explain, it’s not one inch.A Flicker (Hope) — Clarity calms A single next action can quiet the swirl. Keep that quiet.To Rebuild (Healing) — The 1-1-1 plan 1 task: one thing you’ll finish tomorrow. 1 support: one person/tool that helps. 1 time: a start time on your calendar (even 10 minutes).Take a Step (Becoming) — Prep a breadcrumb Lay out one item you’ll need (document, clothes, water bottle) where you’ll see it. Future-you will thank you.Choose-your-energy menu:Hollow (low): Hollow — Write your 1-1-1 in notes. Stop there.Healing (medium): Healing — Put the start time on your calendar and set one reminder.Becoming (higher): Becoming — Add 1-1-1 blocks for the next three days.Food for Thought Today: Panic feeds on vagueness. One clear inch is often enough to move—then you plan the next inch from a steadier place. Progress, not pressure.Exhale. Keep what serves you; leave the rest. I’ll be here again tomorrow. 💜Support the show__________________________________________________________________________💜 The Leftover Pieces is support for life after suicide loss. Click links below🎙 Leave me a message: Share a question, your story, or your person’s name for a future episode → theleftoverpieces.com/voicemail 🔗 Stay connected: Join my email community for weekly support, resources, and honest conversations. 🛠 Start here: Explore website for suicide loss resources for early grief, family support, and next steps. 🤝 For moms: One-on-one grief coaching for mothers navigating life after child loss.📞 Need support right now? If you or someone you love is struggling, call or text 988 (U.S. & Canada), or text HOME to 741741.

Click to Send a Text or Voicemail to MelissaMeaning is a companion, not a cure; a small act of service or creation makes room for both love and ache in grief after suicide. Journal prompt: “A value I still trust—and one 10-minute way to live it…”What we mean by “meaning that doesn’t erase pain” (so we’re clear): Meaning isn’t a cure or a performance. It’s a small, honest act that lets love move alongside ache. Examples:Service: sending a resource to someone struggling; leaving water/snacks for tomorrow-you; holding a door on a hard day.Art: four lines of writing, a quick sketch, a photo of something true—not pretty, true.Legacy: speaking their name, lighting a candle before dinner, adding one memory to your witness log. Keep it 10 minutes or less, tied to a value you still trust (kindness, truth, presence, creativity, service).A Flicker (Hope) — A purposeful minute Folding one kindness into the day can warm the edges. Keep the warmth.To Rebuild (Healing) — Pick one lane (≤10 minutes) Service: share a resource, hold a door, donate $1, check on a neighbor. Art: write four lines, sketch one object, snap a photo that feels true. Legacy: speak their name, light a candle, note one memory in your “witness log.”Take a Step (Becoming) — Name why it matters Finish the sentence: “This act honors [value/them/me] because [reason].” Say it out loud; then do the act.Choose-your-energy menu:Hollow (low): Hollow — Light a candle or speak their name once.Healing (medium): Healing — Do one 10-minute act in service, art, or legacy.Becoming (higher): Becoming — Schedule this act 2–3 times this week.Food for Thought Today: Meaning isn’t a verdict that you’re “better.” It’s a humble way to carry what hurts while letting your love move somewhere tangible. The act is small on purpose; the point is movement, not proof.Exhale. Keep what serves you; leave the rest. I’ll be here again tomorrow. 💜Support the show__________________________________________________________________________💜 The Leftover Pieces is support for life after suicide loss. Click links below🎙 Leave me a message: Share a question, your story, or your person’s name for a future episode → theleftoverpieces.com/voicemail 🔗 Stay connected: Join my email community for weekly support, resources, and honest conversations. 🛠 Start here: Explore website for suicide loss resources for early grief, family support, and next steps. 🤝 For moms: One-on-one grief coaching for mothers navigating life after child loss.📞 Need support right now? If you or someone you love is struggling, call or text 988 (U.S. & Canada), or text HOME to 741741.