I guess what it comes down to, when all is said and done, is that I’m just a sore loser.

We live in an increasingly mobile world, which is both the good news and the bad news. It’s good, of course, because it results in a never-ending migration of new people to our community, bringing with them fresh energy and new talent and different sets of experience, all of which enrich what’s already here. In short, they add to the vitality and richness and evolution of our great state.

But at the same time, it’s bad. That’s because while we can’t stop an occasional really bad person from coming in, we also can’t stop a really good person from leaving. And lately, we’ve been losing some really good people.

That hit home for me a couple of months ago when I learned that Ford Bell had been appointed president of the American Association of Museums, a 100-year-old organization that helps develop standards and best practices, gathers and shares knowledge, and provides advocacy leadership on issues of concern to its more than 3,000 member organizations: art museums, science museums, natural history museums, and more. Bell’s background, personality, and lifelong involvement in the world of museums practically guarantee that the American Association of Museums will thrive under his leadership. The only thing wrong with this picture is that he and his family will end up moving to Washington D.C., the organization’s headquarters. Even though they’ll keep a house here, his new time commitments mean the many local not-for-profit groups and causes will have to do without his help. That’s a real loss.

A couple of months before Bell’s departure, Teresa Eyring, managing director of our great Children’s Theatre Company, left that position and the Twin Cities to assume the role of executive director of the Theatre Communications Group, which is the national service association for American not-for-profit theaters. It’s a big job and a great career opportunity for Eyring. But unfortunately, it meant moving to New York, and leaving behind her participation and many involvements in a wide variety of community organizations here. Her talent and her commitment to making Minnesota a better place will be missed.

Not so many months before Eyring’s departure, longtime citizen and community leader Rip Rapson moved from here to Detroit. His roots were in the Twin Cities—as was his heart—but when he was offered a chance to head the Kresge Foundation, one of the major philanthropic foundations in America, he just couldn’t say no. Rapson’s role in this community over the years was so varied and so visible and so meaningful that his civic role here will probably require two or three people to fill it.

And as I write this, the Walker Art Center’s strong, dynamic leader, Kathy Halbreich, has just announced her retirement from her position as director of the Walker after 16 widely acclaimed years. She’s too young, too energetic, and too full of creative ideas to retire from professional involvement, so it scares me that she, too, may be enticed by some tantalizing career opportunity elsewhere. It doesn’t matter where it might be; if it isn’t here, we lose. (If anyone reading this knows her, please let her know that there’s disease, awful weather, uncontrollable crime, and premature aging almost everywhere else.)

I know we can’t stop people from leaving. Unlike sports teams, we can’t even trade talent with other cities. With all its faults, we have one of the nation’s great communities here. But there comes a moment, every now and then, when some of our pillars, our great talents, our very special citizens choose to leave, and that’s the way it is. It’s just that, as I said, I’m a really sore loser.