Wonder Woman by Toots

I had met some of the Cannons before. We had lunch in D.C. and I’d met Cate in Hershey but it wasn’t until we returned to Salt Lake after our joke of a government internship that I was finally introduced to the other Cannon offspring. I picked out a cute outfit (a must when you’re meeting the greatest guy in the world’s family) and held Chase’s hand as we walked through his front door.

Upon hearing that this was a Suzuki family with Harvard bound children, I was expecting a quiet, serene atmosphere. As we walked in at first I felt confused, and then couldn’t help but smile at all that surrounded me. Chad, who was probably 14 at the time, was set up at the piano, well equipped with a harmonica attachment around his neck. With at least 50 other adolescents in the room, outside, and running all over the place, he was in his own little world. The music belting from his lips and fingers were only a whisper compared to the chaos that enveloped him.

He wasn’t the only one in his own little world. In the kitchen was Chase’s mom chopping vegetables (probably from her own garden) while a couple more teenagers giggled and doodled on the apple adorned chalkboard behind her. As if it didn’t even phase her, Connie stood at the kitchen island and although mayhem threatened to disturb, she just continued to chop and hum to herself. I think deep down she was the happiest mother in the world. She was surrounded by children, most of whom weren’t her own, but she was a mother to them all.

There were kids jumping in the pool completely dressed, and boys walking through the house half so. Connie never complained once. Who was this fascinating woman? Who did all these crazy children belong to? Which ones were Cannons? I wasn’t sure but I felt happy there. I turned to Chad at his piano, to Curtis laughing with his friends, to Heber with his shirt off boasting his 15 year old muscles, to Chase laughing with/at them, and to Connie who to me seemed like wonder woman, and I immediately fell in love…with the whole clan!!