DEAR ABBY: When we learned our baby was going to be a boy, my wife and I settled on a name we both loved.
My mother-in-law has been gravely ill with Alzheimer's disease for several years, but she is now terminal. So my wife is facing the loss of her mother at almost the same time as the birth of our son. My wife asked what I thought about changing our son's name so the first letter of his name will be the same as her mother's. She told me it is customary to use the first letter from the name of a deceased relative when choosing a name for a child.
Common sense tells me I have no choice in this matter, but I don't want to change the name we have already chosen. Part of the bonding between me and my son has been talking to him in the womb. I fear the bond may be damaged if I have to name him something else.
What should I do? -- DISAPPOINTED FIRST-TIME DAD
DEAR DAD: Satisfy both your needs by giving your son a first name that begins with the first letter of your mother-in-law's name, but call him by his second name -- the one you and your wife chose in the first place. It happens all the time.