5 Reasons We're Taking Maria's Departure From Sesame Street So Badly

Like many other moms of the '70s and '80s, I was a religious viewer of Sesame Street and feel like I actually grew up with Maria. And as I grew, she did too. I watched her get married and have a child, and then her child grew up, just as I began having children of my own. There's just something comforting about seeing an icon of your childhood still on the show you put on for your children. It made it feel OK for your children to watch it.

No, Maria wasn't our mom, but she might as well have been based on the lessons she taught us over the years. Life lessons — like the permanence of death (shown above) — are the hallmark of Sesame Street and for many kids, the show is the only place they learned them. Her calm, soothing voice assured us — and our kids — that everything would be OK.

Sesame Street was designed as a social experiment to provide early education to underprivileged kids who weren't attending preschool. No one expected the show to run for 45 years — especially the cast and crew. As one of the early cast members (she joined the show in 1971, in the show's second season), Sonia Manzano introduced Latino culture and words to kids across America who had never heard an "hola" before. To say she (and the show) were ahead of their time is quite the understatement.

We watched Maria go from single woman living on Sesame Street to meeting, dating, marrying, and having a child with Luis. Even though I was well beyond Sesame Street's target audience when the couple got married, I remember tuning in for the big episode — it was as big as Luke and Laura in the '80s! And the fact that the couple is still married on the show — and are growing old together — is something we can all aspire to.

Sesame Street has never shoved political or social issues down anyone's throat, but the show did give voice to underserved groups. Oscar the Grouch had a habit of talking down to Maria — calling her "little girl" and dismissing her ideas — but Sonia Manzano wouldn't have any of that. As a writer on the set, she wrote some powerful dialogue for Maria, letting girls know that it was OK to stand up for themselves. It was a novel idea at the time and one that the show still promotes!