On day one of Suicide Prevention Awareness Month, we explore how postvention becomes prevention—through families who consent to share a loved one’s device so the Black Box Project can detect real-world patterns that help save lives.

Kim Burditt Bartlett, MSW —   She is a suicide loss sibling and Senior Manager of Family Engagement for Stop Soldier Suicide’s Black Box Project. She creates trauma-informed resources and co-founded Sibling Strong Retreats. 

What is the Black Box Project is (plainly):
A research and care initiative at Stop Soldier Suicide that, with family consent, analyzes data from devices of people who died by suicide to identify behavioral patterns and risk signals. Those insights are used to build models and interventions that reach others sooner. The project recently released its first findings (“The White Letter" - just released Aug 2025)

Want to consider sending your loved one's device? 

REACH KIM DIRECTLY HERE [email protected] 

or at Direct phone: 919-275-0045

Why this matters today:

• Postvention isn’t just legacy; done right, it directly informs intervention and prevention.
• Families are not just “donors of data”—they’re co-authors of new pathways to care.
• September is noisy; this is signal.

In this episode we cover:

• Kim’s brother Jon, and the path from personal loss to system-level change.
• How families are engaged, consent is handled, and what “dignity-first” looks like in practice.
• What the first findings suggest about detectable shifts before a death—and the limits of what data can and can’t say.
• The core thesis: postvention → pattern → earlier intervention → prevention.
• Practical ways civilians (not just military families) can learn, share, or contribute to this work.

Resources & links mentioned (or omitted):

• Stop Soldier Suicide — Black Box Project overview (learn, participate, or donate a device): [stopsoldiersuicide.org/blackboxproject]
  Stop Soldier Suicide/Black Box Project
• Sibling grief: unique burdens, overlooked needs, and why peer connection matters --Sibling Strong Retreats (Kim’s work for bereaved siblings). Sibling 

Support the show

__________________________________________________________________________

💜 The Leftover Pieces is support central for grieving hearts.
🔗 Stay connected: Join my free email community for weekly check-ins, resources, and encouragement.
🌟 For moms: Explore the $9 Lighthouse Community — safe connection, tools, and hope.
🛠 Resources for all grievers: Start here.
🤝 One-on-one grief coaching for moms after child loss to suicide: Learn more here.
📞 Need help now? If you or someone you love is struggling with suicidal thoughts, dial 988 in the U.S. & Canada, or text HOME to 741741.

"Grief truth: We keep going, together."

Welcome, fellow griever.
This is your Daily Nugget from me, Melissa, your host of The Leftover Pieces.
Today we will share a moment of presence, a breath of truth, and a reminder.
Lean in with me ---

This month, we’ve walked through thirty-one days of truths about grief — the ones that don’t fit on sympathy cards or in quick conversations, but live in the marrow of our lives.
We’ve talked about love and loss, about how grief changes but never disappears, about how we carry them forward even as we learn to carry ourselves. If you’ve listened each day, you’ve done more than hear my words — you’ve shown up for your grief, for your heart, and for the love that still lives inside you. That matters. 

"Grief truth: We keep going, together."

💜 Looking ahead: September is Suicide Loss Awareness Month. Here on the podcast, we’ll be sharing special episodes, conversations, and reflections to honor our loved ones — and to raise visibility for the Because They Are Loved anthology project.
Then, in October, the Daily Nuggets return with something truly special: short, heartfelt episodes featuring community-submitted memories of loved ones. And in December, we’ll walk together through surviving the holidays — with honesty, permission, and compassion.

This moment is yours, and you are allowed to rest in it.
You carry truths that no one can take from you.
You are walking a path only you can know

Grief is heavy. But it’s lighter when we carry it together.
Thank you for spending August with me — I hope you’ll stay close for what’s next.

Support the show

__________________________________________________________________________

💜 The Leftover Pieces is support central for grieving hearts.
🔗 Stay connected: Join my free email community for weekly check-ins, resources, and encouragement.
🌟 For moms: Explore the $9 Lighthouse Community — safe connection, tools, and hope.
🛠 Resources for all grievers: Start here.
🤝 One-on-one grief coaching for moms after child loss to suicide: Learn more here.
📞 Need help now? If you or someone you love is struggling with suicidal thoughts, dial 988 in the U.S. & Canada, or text HOME to 741741.

 "Grief will always be part of your story." 

Welcome, fellow griever.
This is your Daily Nugget from me, Melissa, your host of The Leftover Pieces.
Today we will share a moment of presence, a breath of truth, and a reminder.
Lean in with me ---

 It will not always be the main chapter—but it will always be written into the pages. 

 "Grief will always be part of your story." 

Grief is not something you “finish” and leave behind. It becomes part of your life’s landscape—woven into the way you see, feel, and love.
 With time, it may take up less space in your daily thoughts, but it will remain in the undercurrent, shaping who you are and how you move through the world.
 This isn’t a curse. It’s a reflection of the love you carry.
 You may find, over the years, that grief’s presence becomes gentler, less sharp—but it will still speak to you in quiet moments, reminding you of the bond that cannot be broken.

 Your story is not only about loss—but loss is one of its threads. And that thread is woven from love.

 Breathe deeply.
 You are allowed to set down the weight, even for just a moment.
 What you know in your bones is unshakable.
 The journey you’re on is sacred, even when it feels lonely.
 I’ll meet you here again in OCTOBER for another go around of Daily Nuggets-- Until then, keep going. And remember, you are not alone--Talk Soon

Support the show

__________________________________________________________________________

💜 The Leftover Pieces is support central for grieving hearts.
🔗 Stay connected: Join my free email community for weekly check-ins, resources, and encouragement.
🌟 For moms: Explore the $9 Lighthouse Community — safe connection, tools, and hope.
🛠 Resources for all grievers: Start here.
🤝 One-on-one grief coaching for moms after child loss to suicide: Learn more here.
📞 Need help now? If you or someone you love is struggling with suicidal thoughts, dial 988 in the U.S. & Canada, or text HOME to 741741.

 "Some days, survival is enough." 

Welcome, fellow griever.
This is your Daily Nugget from me, Melissa, your host of The Leftover Pieces.
Today we will share a moment of presence, a breath of truth, and a reminder.
Lean in with me ---

Not every day will be a day of breakthroughs or big steps forward. Some days, breathing is the accomplishment.

 "Some days, survival is enough." 

Grief takes energy—more than most people realize. There will be days when your body and mind have nothing left for anything beyond the basics.
 And that’s okay. You don’t have to live every day as a monument to progress.
 Some days are for simply existing. For staying hydrated, for making it to the end of the day, for resting your head on the pillow knowing you did what you could.
 These days are not failures. They are part of the rhythm of healing—a rhythm that allows space for stillness as much as for movement.

 You are still here. You are still loving them. And on the hardest days, that is more than enough.

 Breathe deeply.
 You are allowed to set down the weight, even for just a moment.
 What you know in your bones is unshakable.
 The journey you’re on is sacred, even when it feels lonely.
 I’ll meet you here again tomorrow. Until then, keep going. Talk Soon

Support the show

__________________________________________________________________________

💜 The Leftover Pieces is support central for grieving hearts.
🔗 Stay connected: Join my free email community for weekly check-ins, resources, and encouragement.
🌟 For moms: Explore the $9 Lighthouse Community — safe connection, tools, and hope.
🛠 Resources for all grievers: Start here.
🤝 One-on-one grief coaching for moms after child loss to suicide: Learn more here.
📞 Need help now? If you or someone you love is struggling with suicidal thoughts, dial 988 in the U.S. & Canada, or text HOME to 741741.

 "You can love them and love your life." 

Welcome, fellow griever.
This is your Daily Nugget from me, Melissa, your host of The Leftover Pieces.
Today we will share a moment of presence, a breath of truth, and a reminder.
Lean in with me ---

 At first, it may feel impossible—like joy would be a betrayal. But love is not a limited resource. 

 "You can love them and love your life." 

Loving your life now doesn’t mean loving them any less. In fact, it can be a way of honoring them—by living fully in the time you have, just as they would have wanted for you.
 Your love for them will always be part of you. Nothing in this world can dilute it.
 You can laugh, plan, dream, and still hold space for your grief. They can coexist.
 Sometimes joy will feel strange in grief’s shadow—but in time, it will feel more like sunlight breaking through.

 You’re not choosing between them and a future you can embrace. You’re carrying both, in the same heart, as part of the same love.

Take this breath.
 It’s yours to soften into.
 The love you hold is real, and the path you walk is honored.
 No one else can live this story the way you do.
 I’ll return tomorrow to walk with you again. Talk Soon

Support the show

__________________________________________________________________________

💜 The Leftover Pieces is support central for grieving hearts.
🔗 Stay connected: Join my free email community for weekly check-ins, resources, and encouragement.
🌟 For moms: Explore the $9 Lighthouse Community — safe connection, tools, and hope.
🛠 Resources for all grievers: Start here.
🤝 One-on-one grief coaching for moms after child loss to suicide: Learn more here.
📞 Need help now? If you or someone you love is struggling with suicidal thoughts, dial 988 in the U.S. & Canada, or text HOME to 741741.

 "There will be days you feel closer to them." 

Welcome, fellow griever.
This is your Daily Nugget from me, Melissa, your host of The Leftover Pieces.
Today we will share a moment of presence, a breath of truth, and a reminder.
Lean in with me ---

Grief is not a decline in connection to our loved one. Some days, they feel so near you could almost reach out and touch them. 

 "There will be days you feel closer to them." 

It might happen on a walk, when the wind shifts just right. Or in the middle of a song, when the lyrics brush against a memory.
 These moments can be both beautiful and bittersweet—reminding you of what’s gone while also assuring you that love hasn’t vanished.
 Some days, the veil between your worlds feels thinner, and their presence wraps around you like a warm blanket.
 Don’t rush through those moments. Let them linger. Let yourself feel them, without needing to explain or diminish their magic.

 These flashes of closeness are reminders: love is not bound by time, distance, or even death.

 Pause here.
 This moment belongs to you, and you don’t have to rush it.
 The truths you carry are yours to keep.
 The steps you take are yours alone.
 I’ll be back with you tomorrow. Until then, Talk Soon

Support the show

__________________________________________________________________________

💜 The Leftover Pieces is support central for grieving hearts.
🔗 Stay connected: Join my free email community for weekly check-ins, resources, and encouragement.
🌟 For moms: Explore the $9 Lighthouse Community — safe connection, tools, and hope.
🛠 Resources for all grievers: Start here.
🤝 One-on-one grief coaching for moms after child loss to suicide: Learn more here.
📞 Need help now? If you or someone you love is struggling with suicidal thoughts, dial 988 in the U.S. & Canada, or text HOME to 741741.

"Grief will teach you who your people are."

Welcome, fellow griever.
This is your Daily Nugget from me, Melissa, your host of The Leftover Pieces.
Today we will share a moment of presence, a breath of truth, and a reminder.
Lean in with me ---

 Loss has a way of clarifying relationships in ways nothing else can. 

"Grief will teach you who your people are."

Some people will step closer, willing to sit with you in the silence, hold space for your tears, and ask nothing in return.
 Others will drift away, uncomfortable with your pain or unable to face their own fears.
 This can be painful—sometimes more than you expect. But it also clears a path for deeper, truer connections to grow.
 The people who stay, who don’t flinch when your grief shows its rawest edges—those are the ones you can trust with your heart.
 And sometimes, grief introduces you to people you’ve never met before, but who understand you in ways that feel like coming home.

 In grief, your circle may grow smaller—but it will also grow stronger. Those who remain are the ones who truly see you

This moment is yours, and you are allowed to rest in it.
You carry truths that no one can take from you.
You are walking a path only you can know.
I’ll be here again tomorrow. Talk soon. 

Support the show

__________________________________________________________________________

💜 The Leftover Pieces is support central for grieving hearts.
🔗 Stay connected: Join my free email community for weekly check-ins, resources, and encouragement.
🌟 For moms: Explore the $9 Lighthouse Community — safe connection, tools, and hope.
🛠 Resources for all grievers: Start here.
🤝 One-on-one grief coaching for moms after child loss to suicide: Learn more here.
📞 Need help now? If you or someone you love is struggling with suicidal thoughts, dial 988 in the U.S. & Canada, or text HOME to 741741.

"Healing doesn’t mean forgetting."

Welcome, fellow griever.
This is your Daily Nugget from me, Melissa, your host of The Leftover Pieces.
Today we will share a moment of presence, a breath of truth, and a reminder.
Lean in with me ---

Some fear that moving forward will erase the person they love. But healing and forgetting are not the same thing.

"Healing doesn’t mean forgetting."

Healing is about learning how to carry their absence without it crushing you. It’s about weaving them into your days in ways that feel gentle instead of jagged. You will still have moments where the ache is sharp—but over time, you’ll also have more moments where love leads instead of pain.
Your memories don’t fade because you heal. In fact, healing often makes space for more of them to surface—because you have the capacity to hold them without breaking.
They are not slipping away from you. Healing is simply building a life where you can meet them in memory without being destroyed by the missing.

Your love remains. Your bond remains. Healing is the proof—not the erasure—of their place in your life.

Breathe deeply.
 You are allowed to set down the weight, even for just a moment.
 What you know in your bones is unshakable.
 The journey you’re on is sacred, even when it feels lonely.
 I’ll meet you here again tomorrow. Until then, keep going.

Support the show

__________________________________________________________________________

💜 The Leftover Pieces is support central for grieving hearts.
🔗 Stay connected: Join my free email community for weekly check-ins, resources, and encouragement.
🌟 For moms: Explore the $9 Lighthouse Community — safe connection, tools, and hope.
🛠 Resources for all grievers: Start here.
🤝 One-on-one grief coaching for moms after child loss to suicide: Learn more here.
📞 Need help now? If you or someone you love is struggling with suicidal thoughts, dial 988 in the U.S. & Canada, or text HOME to 741741.

 "It’s normal to miss who you were before." 

Welcome, fellow griever.
This is your Daily Nugget from me, Melissa, your host of The Leftover Pieces.
Today we will share a moment of presence, a breath of truth, and a reminder.
Lean in with me ---

Loss doesn’t just take the person you love—it reshapes you.

 "It’s normal to miss who you were before." 

You may look back at the version of yourself who laughed more easily, dreamed more freely, or moved through the world without the shadow of grief.
It’s okay to mourn that version of you.
Grief changes the architecture of your life and your identity. That doesn’t mean the person you are now is “less.” It means you have been carved out and remade by something profound.
 In time, you may find new strength, deeper compassion, or a different kind of joy—but it’s still okay to long for the innocence and lightness you once carried.
Both grief and gratitude can exist for who you were and who you are becoming.

Missing your old self is part of missing them. Both are threads in the same tapestry of love and loss.

 Take this breath.
 It’s yours to soften into.
 The love you hold is real, and the path you walk is honored.
 No one else can live this story the way you do.
 I’ll return tomorrow to walk with you again. 

Support the show

__________________________________________________________________________

💜 The Leftover Pieces is support central for grieving hearts.
🔗 Stay connected: Join my free email community for weekly check-ins, resources, and encouragement.
🌟 For moms: Explore the $9 Lighthouse Community — safe connection, tools, and hope.
🛠 Resources for all grievers: Start here.
🤝 One-on-one grief coaching for moms after child loss to suicide: Learn more here.
📞 Need help now? If you or someone you love is struggling with suicidal thoughts, dial 988 in the U.S. & Canada, or text HOME to 741741.

"You don’t have to explain your grief."

Welcome, fellow griever.
This is your Daily Nugget from me, Melissa, your host of The Leftover Pieces.
Today we will share a moment of presence, a breath of truth, and a reminder.
Lean in with me ---

Not everyone will understand. And honestly? Not everyone needs to.

"You don’t have to explain your grief."

Grief is intimate. It lives in the small moments, the private memories, the quiet aches only you can fully feel.
You don’t owe anyone a map of that landscape. You don’t have to justify why today feels harder than yesterday, or why a certain song brings you to your knees.
Some people will get it without words. Others won’t—and that’s okay.
Your grief is not a debate to be won or a performance to be evaluated. It is yours to honor, in the way that feels right to you, without explanation.

You are allowed to carry your grief quietly. It’s not your job to make it legible to the world—it’s your job to tend to your own heart.

 Pause here.
 This moment belongs to you, and you don’t have to rush it.
 The truths you carry are yours to keep.
 The steps you take are yours alone.
 I’ll be back with you tomorrow. Until then, rest easy. 

Support the show

__________________________________________________________________________

💜 The Leftover Pieces is support central for grieving hearts.
🔗 Stay connected: Join my free email community for weekly check-ins, resources, and encouragement.
🌟 For moms: Explore the $9 Lighthouse Community — safe connection, tools, and hope.
🛠 Resources for all grievers: Start here.
🤝 One-on-one grief coaching for moms after child loss to suicide: Learn more here.
📞 Need help now? If you or someone you love is struggling with suicidal thoughts, dial 988 in the U.S. & Canada, or text HOME to 741741.