Editor’s Note: This column is a part of a series called “I’m hyperfocusing on…”.

Cole and I are taking our mothers on a road trip to Florida this week. I can’t claim credit for this; it was all Cole’s idea. He put in the work to get the camper van ready to go, planned out our stops and kept everybody up to date about the upcoming departure. We left a few days ago, and we will be in Atlanta at the time this is published.

We made it to St. Louis just before sunrise Friday morning, and we spent a few days there, making sure to see all the sites we were hoping to see, and a couple extra ones, too!

On Saturday, we made it to the St. Louis Zoo after a rainy morning. The skies cleared up right as we got to the parking lot, so we decided to leave our ponchos in the van. We were excited for a day full of adventures and animals. We started off with the herpetarium, teaching our mothers about each one and taking notes for ourselves. Our moms laughed about each little gasp of glee when Cole or I saw an animal that we were biased toward. We continued on, learning every step of the way.

We made our way to the okapis, which are Cole’s favorite and also happened to be hiding indoors at the time. Then we got some lunch and enjoyed a moment of air conditioning. As we finished our food, we planned out the rest of our trip through the zoo to ensure we’d see everything we wanted to. We headed over to the stingray cove to feed the rays. It was a step outside of Lisa’s comfort zone, but as she felt the first stingray and gave a little “Oooooh,” we all had to giggle.

We finished feeding the stingrays just in time to watch the sea lion show, where we learned about how the animals are trained to participate in their own medical care. Mandy the sea lion showed us her tricks and imitated other animals while we all applauded (at her instruction to do so).

We continued on to the Dinoroarus exhibit, which consists of animatronic dinosaurs to replicate prehistoric environments. Our certified dino expert, Cole, was excited by the accuracy of the dinosaurs and all the facts they provided. From the dilophosaurus to the coelophysis and even the T. rex, it was all very accurate. The exception was the “move a dino!” sign referring to a dimetrodon, which wasn’t an actual dinosaur.

As we moved on to the last exhibit, the rain came back. It just so happens that the exhibit we were entering was River’s Edge. We jokingly announced we were experiencing authenticity and marched through. We got through about two-thirds of the exhibit before the downpour began. We joyfully shouted another “Authenticity!” as we ducked from tree to tree, stopping briefly to see each animal. We saw an elephant eating foliage, a pair of hippos fighting and even a cheetah running through the rain. Once we got to the end of the exhibit, we headed back to the van as quickly as we could.

My first step into the parking lot was into a puddle almost up to my knee. We kept on running, and with the van in sight, I heard a crash. I turned around, unable to see through the rain at this point, wondering what had happened.

I ran back through the curtains of water to see Cole on the ground, holding his head. I moved his hand and found the dreaded crimson liquid in his hair.

We got him off the ground and hurried back to the van. As Lisa examined the wound where Cole split his head, my mother got a towel and ice pack and I plugged the nearest emergency room into the GPS app. On the drive to the emergency room, Cole made jokes. I don’t remember what they were, but I remember that it was funny. Honestly, his jokes made it hard to focus on the fear of what was happening.

When we got to the emergency room, I went inside with Cole. With the COVID restrictions, our moms had to wait in the parking lot. He got checked in and we laughed through the entire time in the waiting room. I quizzed him about dinosaurs until the doctor came in, and we continued joking until we were discharged a little over three hours later with five new staples holding his scalp closed.

Through every step of the trip, we’ve been laughing. It’s said that laughter is the best medicine, and after the events of the first state, we would all agree. Sometimes the best way to get through something difficult is to find a source of laughter.