Studied trumpet starting in 3rd grade and stuck with it through the summer after I graduated high school. I played in symphonic and concert band, marching band, jazz band, pep band, drum & bugle corps (soprano bugle), madrigal festivals (on herald trumpet), accompanied several choirs...and probably a few things I'm not remembering.
Switched to bass, but that's a separate story.
Didn't touch a trumpet until 2007, when I decided I had some unfinished business on the instrument. Studied under Charles Schleuter and Lynn Nicholson and got to a much higher level of mastery than I had in my "original" playing career. I did trumpet section coaching and some one-on-one lessons for my high school and a couple other nearby schools, trying to help some young players avoid the mistakes I'd made and the bad guidance I had been given. It was pretty satisfying. Music programs in the schools have been hit hard with budget cuts. I've reduced my commitment quite a bit, but I still play and teach some. I bring a trumpet to the cabin and blast away in the pole barn with all the doors closed. I have enough land that I don't think anybody is hearing it, but if they did it'd just be one more "crazy Dave" story at the local taverns. They all think I'm crazy as a shit-house rat, and I kinda relish it.
