Family, Friends & Fellow Officers Remember...

Dearest Pops,
Happy 76th Belly Button Day! This year, we will celebrate you with a yummy Polish dish and a Clint Eastwood movie. I miss you everyday! I carry your heart, I carry your heart in my heart
- forever and always

Kate Kolodziej-Delafield
Daughter

April 3, 2024

Dear Pops,
32 years since we have heard you laugh, tell a joke or give a hug. 32 years since we have tasted your home cooked burgers, egg salad sandwiches or jelly toast. 32 years since that day, which changed the course of our lives forever. It still feels like yesterday. This poem has helped me throughout these years...

Do not stand at my grave and weep 
I am not there. I do not sleep. 
I am a thousand winds that blow. 
I am the diamond glints on snow. 
I am the sunlight on ripened grain. 
I am the gentle autumn rain. 
When you awaken in the morning's hush 
I am the swift uplifting rush 
Of quiet birds in circled flight. 
I am the soft stars that shine at night. 
Do not stand at my grave and cry; 
I am not there. I did not die.

by Mary Elizabeth Frye

I carry your heart, I carry your heart in my heart

Kate Kolodziej-Delafield
Daughter

September 4, 2023

Happy Belly Button Day, Pops!
Today would have been your 75th birthday. We will celebrate you in traditional dad style by having your favorite homemade dinner; hamburgers, tator tots and vanilla ice cream for dessert. This year, we'll watch a Burt Reynolds movie; another one of your favorites. I miss you everyday! I carry your heart, I carry your heart in my heart forever and always! I love you

Kate Kolodziej-Delafield
Daughter

April 3, 2023

Hi Pop,
Wow! 31 years... yet again it feels like yesterday. So much has happened that I wish I could share with you. In the quite, dark moments of the morning, I hear the world outside moving, as it's just another day for everyone else. For us, time has frozen this day and imprinted it forever in our broken hearts. We soldier on and find other things to occupy our day but the pain lingers like the unwanted passenger in the car. Today is a road trip. We will play good music, have good snacks, enjoy good company and forever keep you in our hearts. I carry your heart, I carry your heart in my heart, forever and always.

Kate Kolodziej-Delafield
Daughter

September 4, 2022

Happy Belly Button Day, Pops! Today would have been your 74th birthday. If you were here, I would make your birthday dinner of homemade hamburgers, tator tots and baked beans. Followed by ice cream and Clint Eastwood movies. I miss you everyday. I carry your heart, I carry your heart in my heart forever and always. I love you

Kate Kolodziej-Delafield
Daughter

April 3, 2022

Officer Kolodziej,
On today, the 30th anniversary of your death I would just like to say thank you for your service and sacrifice for the citizens of Phoenix. And to your Family and loved ones, I wish to extend my deepest sympathy.

R.I.P.
USBP

Anonymous
United States Border Patrol

September 4, 2021

My darling, how can it be thirty years? I miss you every day and wish you were here to share all of the joys and sorrows with me. Life was so much better with your hand in mine. I pray that you are with our boys and that you are all at peace.

On Grief
There is no time. There is no answer, no place where it is eased. There are no linear "stages". The supposed stages of grief were actually stages of acceptance of our own death. If there were stages of grief they would be like the wind. Just when you think you have gained purchase so as not to be blown over, it changes direction. When you believe you are acclimated, it grows bitterly cold. Just when you are close to complete despair, it calms and wraps you in memories that bring hope and comfort. A gentle breeze of love. The crazy ride will start again. Trust that. A scent, a picture, a sunset, music, many things can put us there again. That is how we know that no matter how far away they may have gone, they are still tucked away, right there in our heart. We will ride the wind and find them along the way. Namaste Bobbe

Barbara L Kolodziej
Wife

September 4, 2021

Dearest Pops,
30 years ago, on September 4, 1991, George H. W. Bush was President, the #1 song was "Everything I Do, I Do It For You" by Brian Adams, "The Sum Of All Fears" by Tom Clancy was the best selling book, it was the 3rd day of my junior year in HS and the day we lost the strongest, bravest man in our world. A lifetime has passed since we lost you, yet without effort, it feels like yesterday. We have learned that grief is not linear nor is it one dimensional. We survivors are marked by tragedy. We will forever feel the hallow of that day. Thankfully, we also feel love, connection and warmth from memories. You will always be my Superman.

I carry your heart, I carry your heart in my heart, forever and always! I love and miss you everyday.

Kate Kolodziej-Delafield
Daughter

September 4, 2021

Happy Belly Button Day, Pops! Today you would have been 73 years young. I miss you everyday and carry your heart in my heart, always. I love you

Kate Kolodziej-Delafield
Daughter

April 3, 2021

Twenty-nine years my darling. You are my first thought in the morning and my last thought at night. I (we) miss you. Blesses, sweetheart.

Bobbe Kolodziej
Wife

September 4, 2020

Rest in peace always and please know that your service and sacrifice will never, ever be forgotten by your fellow law enforcement.

Detective Cpl/3 Steven Rizzo
Delaware State Police (Retired)

September 4, 2020

Dearest Pops,
How can another year have already passed? It seems unrealistic to accept that 29 years have gone by. How can it be that long when in my heart, it still feels like it was yesterday. There are so many things about you that I miss. Your love of ice cream, your sense of humor, your laugh, the way you made jelly toast, your larger than life presence and your big bear hugs; to name a few. Now, as I have become older, I miss not knowing you as an adult. I am two years older than you were when we lost you. It blows my mind to think how young you were. Age sure does change perception; to a 16 year old, 43 is super old! Haha. Looking through my eyes now?... not so much at all. I am comforted in the knowledge that your memory lives on. Your brothers and sisters in blue have never forgotten you and they keep a link open to us. It means the world to still have that support; to know we are not alone, connected for life.

I carry your heart, I carry your heart in my heart forever and always. I love and miss you

Kate Kolodziej-Delafield
Daughter

September 4, 2020

Happy Belly Button Day, Pops! Today would have been your 72nd. I love and miss you so very much.
I carry your heart in my heart, always!

Kate Kolodziej-Delafield
Daughter

April 3, 2020

Happy Birthday my love. The rest of our family can't be together today due to virus. We all miss you terribly. I'm hopeful that you are with our sons. I love you.

Bobbe Kolodziej

April 3, 2020

My Dearest Pops,
Here we are again. 28 years have passed and you are missed as much now as when I first lost you. This year has been one of the hardest and brought a difficultly that I wasn't expecting so soon. Losing another sibling so unexpectedly, the last sibling I grew up with, the last one with your name, has been tough. I believe in my heart that when Ron crossed over, you and Marty were there to greet him. Though I am deeply saddened to have lost the three of you, I find some comfort in believing you are all together. I miss you so very much. I carry your heart in my heart, always. I love you forever!

Kate Kolodziej-Delafield
Daughter

September 4, 2019

Happy Belly Button Day, Pops. Today, you would have been the wise, young age of 71, lol. I often wonder what we might do to celebrate this day with you. Target practice then breakfast out at a yummy cowboy restaurant? Or homemade breakfast then a movie? Or sleep in, have lunch and play Yatzee and have a bit of Bailey's and coffee? Either way, we would have fun. I miss you everyday and love you always. I carry your heart in my heart.

Kate Kolodziej-Delafield

April 3, 2019

The family of Officer Leon Kolidziej can take solace in the memory of this fine man who stood tall in the Thin Blue Line. What kind of a world would this be without them??

Stan Jefferson
Citizen of Arizona

September 4, 2018

My Dearest Pops, this day never gets easier. Though it has been 27 years, it still seems like yesterday. This year feels different; more difficult as I turned 43... the age you were when we lost you. It is truly an interesting realization. I miss you so much. I carry your heart in my heart; forever and always!

Kate Kolodziej-Delafield
Daughter

September 4, 2018

Happy Belly Button Day, Pops! You would have been the big 70 this year. Hard to believe so much time has passed. I love and miss you. I carry your heart in my heart, always.

Kate Kolodziej-Delafield
Daughter

April 3, 2018

26 years ago today my entire world exploded into a great ball of unfamiliar territory. 26 years later the ringing in my ears from the elements combusting still continues. Never in my wildest imagination could I have prepared for the wrath that ripped through my soul like a warm knife through butter. Though I grow stronger with each breath, I fight to bypass the emotional vortex that resides in my core from your absence. I have learned to accept the things in life that I do not understand and carry hope for the things that I need to unfold my future. You helped to give me life and in your death created me again giving me an awareness that can only be referred to as a blessing and a curse. 9-4-91 is when my Superman died but his memory is imprinted on my existence forever and no amount of life's kryptonite can weaken it's energy. I carry your heart in my heart, your pride in my veins, your legacy in my soul and your courage on my arm.
Leonard Leon Kolodziej 4/3/48 - 9/4/91. Loving you Forever and Always Pop!

Kate Kolodziej-Delafield
Daughter

September 4, 2017

Happy Belly Button Day, Pops! You would have been 69 years young today. I love and miss you bunches. I carry your heart in my heart, always

Kate Kolodziej-Delafield
Daughter

April 3, 2017

Officer Kolodziej has long since departed, but he has left a fine legacy with those left behind. I am inspired by the many notes left by his wife and daughter. This man is missed. We are thankful that he stood in the Thin Blue Line.

Stan Jefferson
citizen

September 4, 2016

Here we are, love. Twenty -fivery years. I miss you every day. I try to imagine what life would hold if you were still on this plane. I only know that life would be better, fuller with you here. I am thankful for the time we had and love you forever.

Bobbe
Wife

September 4, 2016

Hi Pops,
25 years have gone by so fast. The world is different; I am different. Yet, part of me is forever 16; immortalized in the pain of that day. Though I miss you every day, I am grateful for the time we did have, the strength you gave me and the wisdom you taught me. I carry your heart in my heart, forever.
Love you, always
Kate

Kate Kolodziej-Delafield

September 4, 2016

Thinking of you today. Miss you.

Bobbe

January 22, 2016