My Hurricane (Jennifer)

By Donna Hruska

Oct. 20, 1965

Listen to Donna narrate this story!

You often hear someone ask why tropical storms are named after women. A question that has occurred to me is why women aren’t named after storms. For instance, I have a small daughter who easily could have been named Hurricane. She qualifies in a number of respects.

Hurricanes are easily predicted. The weather man looks for a drop in pressure and an increase in speed of the winds. I easily predicted that I had an unusual phenomena on my hands before my hurricane was born.

Pressure had something to do with my prediction, too—an increase in pressure, in this case, right under my ribs where she settled herself comfortably, leaving her twin brother to fend for himself in whatever space was left over.

Her speed increased also as time went on. She could twist and turn, kick and wiggle at a most rapid rate. When she finally emerged she was a full blown storm. I wasn’t at all surprised to find she was of feminine gender.

Hurricanes usually grow fast. So did our little storm. Although she is not three, she is already of full-back proportions. She can move heavy furniture at her slightest whim, such as her dresser into the closet to bring the highest shelf within reach.

Have you heard that hurricanes are accompanied by a great deal of water, in the form of rain and tidal waves? Jennifer periodically floods us with tears, usually angry, and the waves that wash out of the bathroom when she bathes could easily be classified as tidal.

So hurricanes have destructive power? You haven’t seen Jennifer in action. She can destroy a big brother’s rock collection in five seconds flat. Toys, dishes, clothes, birthday cakes, all have lain devastated in her wake. She has an uncanny ability to move all before her. A strong father and determined mother melt with just an appealing glance of her big brown eyes.

Just like a hurricane, she spins, twists and turns in a whirl of high powered activity. Like the weather men, we can recognize our storm, but can do nothing to prevent her and little to change her. All we can do is warn people and keep objects out of her way.

---