That sting of watching someone you once let silence you still pursuing what you gave up must feel like a punch to the gut. The cruel irony is that his lack of skill but abundance of persistence probably taught him more about music in those ten years than natural talent ever could have. Your fingers might be rusty, but that musical part of you is still there waiting - and now you have something he didn't back then: the wisdom to know that other people's opinions are just noise.