What’s in a Name?

What better way to start the new year is there than to shake off the winter blues and dive back into the world of creativity. That’s the hope, at least. If you are like me, you find the winter season to be the one that sucks the life right out of you and the one that makes it hard not to just sleep the days away. If you are like me, you check the calendar each time you wake hoping that spring has finally arrived. If you are like me, you know that that’s no way to live and so you just decide that a change is needed and move on. When my brother Dave telephoned a couple days ago hoping for a new blog post, and asking if I was over my writer’s block, I said that it wasn’t so much that I was blocked as I just didn’t feel like putting in the effort. That call, however, gave me just enough of a boost to make me think it was time to get back to it. Thanks Dave!

On December 21^st, Denise and I had a Christmas celebration for our family. We chose this day because Emma and Adrian and the grandkids would be going to Adrian’s family farm for Christmas Day to be with his family. We booked the Common/Meeting Room in our condo building for our event and the celebration turned out to be much larger than expected.

Christmas Gathering 2025 – Photo by Don Cheke

At first, the celebration was going to be a simple affair with Denise, myself, Emma, Adrian, and the three grandkids, and, of course, my mom. Adrian was going to cook a turkey, cut it up, and bring it with him when they came. Denise and I would supply salads and buns, and of course, Christmas baking. The grandkids would open their presents and a good time would be had by all. Sometime before the 21^st, my younger brother Doug, and his husband Kal, mentioned that they were coming to Saskatoon for Christmas, so they made the 21^st the day they would celebrate with us. Mom, thinking this was great, called my older brother, Dave, and asked him to come too, which he did. After Dave told his daughter Rebecca that he was going to Saskatoon to be with us, she decided that she would come too, with her two children, leaving her hubby home due to his work schedule. With these additional people coming I decided to invite my cousin Aaron and his partner, Krysten, and Denise decided to invite our friend Charlene who would be alone on this day, almost one year after her husband Syl’s death. With the added people, I decided to bake a large ham to ensure there would be enough food for everyone. As always, there ended up being much more food than needed. It was great to see everyone, and as far as I could tell, everyone had a great time – not a drop of liquor to be found, as Denise pointed out.

Although we had initially planned to have our grandkids open their presents at the Christmas supper event, we decided against that as the numbers grew, since that would have been overwhelming for Olivia and Madelyn, and unfair for Rebecca’s children who would have no presents at this time. As such, Denise and I had Emma, Adrian, and our three grandchildren over on the 20^th for tea, treats, and present opening.

If you are wondering about Christmas Day, Denise and I had my mom and Denise’s brother over for a small supper celebration including roast chicken, baked potatoes, salad and treats. We opened presents at that time too. As for the others that attended the 21^st celebration, they all made it home to celebrate Christmas Day in their own way. Dave, Doug, Kal, Rebecca and her kids in Calgary, and the rest in Saskatoon.

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While visiting Dave, Doug, and Kal one afternoon while they were here, we were talking about carrying on the family name and whether that was important to us at all. We all felt that it wasn’t important, that living a good life was enough, and knowing the family would carry on even if it wasn’t under the Cheke banner. For our family, carrying the Cheke banner forward is close to not an option anyway, as you will see. I have only one daughter, who took her husband’s last name. Doug and Kal have no children, so they confirmed the name stops with Doug on that branch. As for Dave, he has one daughter, who took her husband’s last name. That said, Dave also has one son, who at this point is single, but living with his girlfriend. Although we don’t tease Daniel (Dave’s son) too much, we do tell Dave that it’s all up to Daniel to keep the name going – no pressure though! LOL! For interest’s sake, some of those that have read my blogs and read my memoirs know that I have a half-brother from my father’s second marriage. Well, he is married, but has four daughters, so if they all get married and change their last name, they won’t be much help keeping the Cheke name on the books. 😊

That discussion brought us to the topic of Googling our own names to see what came up, and to see if our name was unique or we were just one of many with the same name. I mentioned how for so long I was the only Don Cheke that came up in a Google search until one year a second with the same name started to appear. In my case it was a fellow who owned a Taco truck in Nebraska, USA. After many years seeing this, I noted that he opened a brick-and-mortar restaurant – thus expanding his empire. When I started to see this second Don Cheke, I was quite depressed about it – as my unique single nomenclature had come to an end. I know I could still search for Donald B. Cheke and find no others, but in the back of my mind I knew this was only a slight of hand to trick myself into believing I was the only one.

So, does it really matter that there are two Don Cheke’s? Does that diminish us in any way? I guess that the right answer is no. Think of it like this. There might be forty chicken soup recipes, but each recipe is unique – just as people are. Each has its own taste and texture. Each has its own distinct look and each has its own culinary admirers. Perhaps it makes it harder to find the one you want in a Google search, but each is unique – of that there is no doubt. And it is far better to be 1 of 2 rather than let’s say 1 of 30 – 50,000 as it is for John Smith, or 1 of 30,000+ as it is for Maria Hernandez. You get the picture!

How many do you share a name with? How do you feel about that?

With this all on my mind, I decided to reread the 2011 book called No Relation by Terry Fallis.

For ease of description, I asked CoPilot to provide a summary for you:

No Relation — Summary

Terry Fallis’s novel follows Earnest Hemmingway, a New York City copywriter whose life unravels spectacularly in a single morning: he’s fired from his long time advertising job and discovers his girlfriend is moving out. Yet these setbacks are only the surface of a deeper, lifelong burden — he shares his name with one of the most famous writers in history, and the weight of that identity has shaped him in ways he can no longer ignore.

Determined to reclaim his sense of self, Earnest forms a support group for people who also carry the names of iconic figures — a quirky ensemble that includes Marie Antoinette, Mahatma Gandhi, Mario Andretti, Diana Ross, and others, each nothing like their namesakes. This eccentric fellowship becomes the emotional and comedic engine of the story.

As Earnest navigates pressure from his father to take over the family underwear business, Hemmingwear, he also confronts writer’s block, a small dog phobia, and a multinational plot threatening the family company. What begins as a personal crisis evolves into a humorous, heartfelt journey of identity, friendship, and self determination.

Fallis delivers the story with his signature blend of lighthearted satire and warm humanity, crafting a novel that entertains while quietly asking: Who are you, really, when your name arrives before you do?

Key Themes

• Identity vs. expectation — How a name shapes (and distorts) a life.
• Community as transformation — The support group becomes a mirror and catalyst.
• Humour as resilience — Fallis uses comedy to explore vulnerability without diminishing it.
• Family legacy — Earnest’s struggle with the Hemmingwear empire reflects deeper questions of purpose.

CoPilot Sources: Terry Fallis, Novelist – CELA – Quill and Quire

Although I am not too keen on the sarcastic humor of the main character, I enjoyed the book for a second time. After having just read a couple of the real Ernest Hemingway books recently, I appreciated the tour Earnest Hemmingway, no relation, took in the book to try and exorcise what he perceived was keeping him blocked – writing-wise. It was interesting to read about the places Hemingway lived and to compare that to what I had read in the books The Old Man and the Sea and For Whom the Bell Tolls. It was also interesting to ponder what it would be like to be saddled with a famous name. In the last two years of my work world, I met weekly, via internet conference calls, with the engineering crew of our biggest customer. One fellow was named Paul Simon, no relation. As you can imagine, we discussed his famous name occasionally and he took it all in stride. In that same company, there were two other individuals – one named Willy Nelson, and another I can no longer recall. I remember thinking how bizarre it was to have three famous-named people all in one company.

Do you know anyone that shares a famous name?

I can certainly attest to the fact that having one other Don Cheke on the world stage has not had any real impact on me – probably because we are not world famous, but still – that I am not uniquely named is somewhat troubling. Best I can ascertain, based on what little info there is, I was the first with this name. That must count for something, wouldn’t you say? 😊

Well, that is about all I can think of to share on this topic. I do recommend the book No Relation, as it is well written and the topics within I think we can all identify with in some way.

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Next time, I will share some more on what I have been reading and watching to while away the winter.

P.S. I created the feature image today, specifically for this blog post. I did the 3D modeling in SolidWorks and rendered it in KeyShot.

Donald B. Cheke – Saskatoon, SK