The young one traces the puckered lines on her papa’s face.

“Do they hurt?”

“No, Darlin’.”

“What are they, Poppy?”

“Maps to all the places I’ve been.”

” Can I go?”

“To some, yes. To others, I hope not.”

She kisses the “map” and declares, “I’m gonna start making my map!”

Hillary Nichols only puts down her pen when her duties as a mother to seven, grandmother to three and wife of one compels her to.