24/05/2016, On 26 May the latest addition to our family will be one year old.

The addition is a boy called Boris. Like his father,my nephew. And his grandfather. My sister fell in love with Boris, the kindest,nicest man any-one could wish for a brother-in-law. Over the years he has become more like a brother to me. When their first born came,they named him Boris. Like father,like son,an apple doesn't fall far from the tree, the spitting image,you look at them and know they are two peas of the same pod, and when you observe them closely you see an unbreakable bond. When Boris,my nephew,was growing up, he was teased at school about his name. The children called him Boris Godunov. What's wrong with being compared to this excellent hero from Modest Mussorgsky's masterpiece opera of the same name? Nothing if you are an adult. Everything if you are a child. For no-one can be more cruel to a young boy than his peers. One day Boris,my nephew,came home from school and said to his mother- mum,why,of all the names in the whole wide world to choose from,you gave me the name Boris. How am I going to get out of this,thinks my sister.Have I scarred my first born for life? Ask your father,she replies,as she had done so many times before when awkward questions came from the children-you know the ones - mum,where do the babies come from? Why ask me? - says he. I never have any say in anything anyway. And your mum always says she knows best. Well, sweetheart,she says,having gathered her thoughts,it is your father's name. But not my grand-father's, the boy cannot comprehend the logic. Years went by, he had to grin and bear for a long time,then he changed schools, became an adult. And out of the blue the name Boris Johnson hit the news. Now you see why I gave you the name Boris. If it is good-enough for the Mayor of London,it is good-enough for you,my sister said. All grown up,Boris junior knew better than to challenge his mother's reasoning. My nephew's wife had her own ideas about how to name the baby. She asked all and sundry for suggestions. I myself put in my tuppence worth -keep it as a middle name. But she is a sensible girl. The much awaited and longed for child was 8 years in the making. There were moments when they thought they would never know the joy of parenthood. And once its little head popped out and she saw the face of her husband, it had to be another Boris.