I found it when I wasn’t looking for it.

Roller story.

What do you do when you’ve already purchased everything you need for the year, you’ve gone over budget, and you’ve told everyone that you’re not going to spend any more money but something valuable suddenly comes up for sale?

You buy it.

Right before our yearly company shut down, which is a few days before Christmas to a few days after New Years, I got a text.

“Hey bro. Hope all is well. Wondering if you had any use for a sheep foot roller. I’ve been trying to help my mom sell it since Dennis passing…”

Dennis. Say no more. I’m there.

Dennis. The G.O.A.T. of the heavy equipment world. The king of dirt life. The boss. My mentor.

Everything I learned about operating came from him; Tricks and fundamentals that I still use and teach till this day.

He taught me how to grade using a backhoe 4n1 bucket. He taught me how to lay pipe. He taught me how to read plans. He taught be how to use a laser.

Anything he didn’t teach me directly, he taught me by his actions. Just watching him was a lesson.

If you’ve ever seen Dennis operate any piece of equipment, and I mean ANY, it was like poetry in motion. A band called Sade wrote a song about him: Smooth Operator.

Every move he made on heavy machinery had purpose. Every scoop. Every pass. Every trench was perfect.

His dirt strategy game was undefeated. He knew exactly where every ounce of dirt was going to go. He never moved dirt twice.

Operating equipment was Dennis’s happy place. You can really tell when someone truly loves what they are doing. You see that inner peace on their face. When the line between working and a hobby are blurred.

Being the worlds greatest operator was not his only talent. His mellow, laid back, quiet demeanor was what everyone loved about him.

If you are extremely good at what you do but have a cocky, arrogant attitude, no one wants to work with you or even be around you.

Dennis was chill. All the time.

I’ve never seen him lose his temper. I’ve never seen him yell at anyone. Even when I completely destroyed property and damaged a machine under his supervision, he never got mad at me.

He is truly one of my heroes. A man that helped shape me and get me to where I am today.

I was honored to be a part of his paddle out memorial at Honolua Bay with our big trucks blasting air horns on the cliff.

Back to the roller.

The next morning I drove an hour to go check it out. After catching up with one of Dennis’s boys, I knew it was God’s perfect timing.

It was meant to be. I didn’t really need the roller, but the fact that it was his meant I had to have it. Just a small part of D-Man that I could remember him by.

Every time the roller shakes the ground and compacts the earth, making that solid foundation, I’ll think of him. What a perfect reminder.

#staytrue