well, my aunt has been disfellowshipped for many years. she babysat me when i was a little kid and for a lot of years. i even used to call her mommy, my own mom didn't even potty train me, that's how close i was to her. but i didn't know how serious disfellowshipping was. as i grew up, it was hard for me to stop going over her house and eventually i did. i rarely go over to see her now. that's my story.
Well don't give up hope. I was DF'd for about 5 years. And not 1 day went by that I didn't wake up saying to myself "What am I doing? I know where the truth is."
I still hope for a few close friends of mine that I grew up with. They were brothers to me.
There is a brother that as far back as I could remember was DF'd. I think he was gone for 20+ years. He eventually came back and is doing very good now.
So don't give up hope. :)
thanks, you're a real encouragement bro.