Cell Block H

(Excerpt)

In the early 80's, in Cabrini, my older sister Karen and I, Doreen would stay up at night on weekdays and watch the British prison drama Cell Block H, The Benny Hill Show and Mary Hartmann on our Magnavox tv. We were not suppose to be awake past 10 pm so we'd have the sound down low.  Two of the characters on Cell Block H had my older sister Karen's name and one of the characters had my name Doreen. Each time the character's that bore our names did something crazy we'd tease each other and that was often! The character Doreen, was frumpy and scary and was always underneath the boisterous character Bea. The character Karen was initially quiet and withdrawn and became the love interest of the cunning Frankie.