How do you deal with the hurt?

[kindertime]

The very first child I had in my daycare was with me for a month before other kids joined the daycare. She was 2 at the time. She was with me for 3 years. I was very close to both her and the mom. She and I were friends IMO, we did things together outside of daycare hours. We had discussed many times how hard it would be when dcg would leave for school. And then one day... she just never came back. It was the beginning of July and the week went by and I got an email from the mom saying she was sick and with her dad. She'll be back Mon. Monday came and nothing. No word all week. Then I had my 2 weeks holidays, and the grandma brought dcg for a visit and said, oh, yes, she'll be back after your holidays. But she didn't. And the phone was disconnected. They were gone. Moved away. Without a word. I think to say I was devastated is a little too dramatic but really felt like all that time I'd spent and love I'd given was not worth a second thought. She just threw it away. And as much as I was upset for me, I was also upset for dcg. She was old enough then to know she never got to say goodbye to me either.
I can't say that I learned my lesson, though. I'm still sad and miss them all when they go. It gets better, but maybe that's not a good thing, either.