So Long Dora and Blue

Dora, Boots, Blue and Bob the Builder adorn the wall of my craft room. The room used to be my grandson's room eight years ago, before my daughter moved to Alabama. He was almost three when they moved. I had painted the mural on his wall a year before that while they were away on a trip and he was so excited when he came home and found Dora, Blue and Bob looking down on him in his bed. He could barely speak and he jumped up and down screeching, he was so happy. Well, since they left his room has been converted to a craft room for me and all the walls have been repainted to a much lighter, soothing green...except that one wall. I did sponge around the figures with the green and pink to lighten it up a bit but I couldn't bring myself to paint over it. Jesse didn't want me to either. Every time he would visit we would sit in his 'old' room and he would ask me not to paint over the characters...so they have stayed. His little sister, Sophia, has come to like it also, though she is not as attached to them as he was. Blue and Bob are no longer on t.v. but she knows of them from Jesse's old videos. Dora and Boots she knows and loves. She liked to come into the room and give them high 5's. Sophia is now 3 and Jesse is 10 and he has been more than willing to let me paint over them for a few years now but my husband won't let me. My husband refuses to throw out any of Jesse's old broken toys that were left behind when they moved out. I tried once to throw out the broken pieces and found them a few days later in a box in our garage. My husband is very sentimental and Jesse is our first grandchild. Well after a few years of trying to talk my daughter and her family into moving back to Florida we realized that it wasn't going to happen. Besides, after visiting Alabama we grew to love it there, so we bought a house a few blocks away from them and are hoping to be able to move there soon. Now we are trying to sell our house in Florida....so it is finally time to say goodbye to Dora, Blue and Bob, we have to make the house buyer friendly. We will be replacing them with a clean, crisp white. I have to admit, I feel kind of sad to see them go.