Sunday evening, as I was prepping a couple of slabs of baby backs to toss on the grill for Mother’s Day dinner, my attention was drawn from my barbecue basting to an unfamiliar sight in my periphery. Off in the distance, gracing the horizon, was a group of Apache helicopters. Then another group. And yet another. In the course of a few minutes, at least 10 of them flew south. Quiet strange.

Was it a military training exercise? The end of the world? Not quite.

Those unmistakable birds in the sky were heading to the opening ceremony for the 2016 Invictus Games at ESPN’s Wide World of Sports complex.

The Invictus Games, founded by Prince Harry in 2014, are a Paralympic-style, multi-sport event whose participants are wounded, injured or sick veterans. Sports such as wheelchair basketball, powerlifting and track and field highlight the four day slate of competition.

The Invictus Games are immeasurably important. In the month where Memorial Day falls, recognizing and celebrating the athletic accomplishments of military personnel from around the globe is no finer tribute. These men and women risked their lives for their countries, and now they’re showing the world through sport the heights of their achievement. Setting records in cycling. Hitting bull’s eye after bull’s eye in archery. Proving that physical and emotional wounds do not have to be limitations on the field of play.

These warriors never give up, and their feats will be on display this week. If you’re interested in watching the games (and I highly recommend that you do), ESPN’s broadcast schedule can be viewed here.

Hard to believe we’ve already flown by the first quarter of 2016, but here we are in May, and Mother’s Day is this Sunday. Just a friendly reminder from PR/PR—get out there and make sure Mom has a good one this weekend!

Last year admittedly wasn’t the best for my mom. Her 2015 Mother’s Day was spent dealing with a bevy of health issues, so she was not able to enjoy the day with the rest of the family. Breakfast in bed was of course provided, and she enjoyed the flowers that I purchased (and somehow kept alive for two weeks).

Unanticipated speed bumps are a part of life, and we rode through that rough patch as a family. I’m happy to say that 2016’s Mother’s Day looks a lot better, and Mom will have the energy to hang by the pool and corral her three energetic grand kids. We’re looking forward to it in the Breazeale family.

Russell will be delaying his in-person Mother’s Day celebrations this year, as his mom and dad make the trek from California to visit Florida for the first time in a decade later this month! There’s nothing better than a long road trip, especially when there’s family at the end of it. Safe travels, Trahans!

So to all the moms out there: cheers! Enjoy Sunday—you deserve it each and every day.

Four months in and 2016 is already a massive bummer for music fans. Bowie. Haggard. Frey. Lemmy. And now, gone far too soon: Prince.

The devastating news broke last Thursday that the musical icon was found dead in his home in Minnesota. The world collectively went into freak-out mode. Larger than life people like Prince don’t die. It did not seem real.

Prince transformed the musical landscape. He brilliantly and seamlessly blended elements of funk, of dance pop and rock ‘n roll. Much in the way of Bowie, Prince pushed the boundaries of the cultural consciousness by shattering stereotypes and challenging his fans to dig a little deeper. Breaking through in a time of excess, Prince truly separated himself from other artists and toed the line of social acceptance and condemnation.

He was not a man who was afraid to take chances.

His work ethic was famously tireless. His protection of his privacy and distrust of the media was fabled. He was very out there, but also very closed off. An enigma, wrapped in a riddle, wrapped in a mysterious musical virtuoso.

Another legend gone far too soon. The world mourns the loss of one of the last true innovators. Rest in peace, Prince.

Grab your broadsword, down a cup of ale and say a prayer to The Seven: it’s Game of Thrones week. I’ve made no qualms about my love/hate relationship with George R.R. Martin’s fantasy brainchild; where death is certain, betrayal lurks behind every corner in the Red Keep and happy endings are as rare as dragon eggs.

But as much as GoT has a propensity to shatter my happiness on a weekly basis, it was still one of the driving factors to my visit to Dubrovnik, Croatia last spring. Exploring the dusky back alleys and secret crags of Kings Landing was a one-in-a-lifetime experience, and served to reinforce my affinity for the world that George R.R. Martin has created.

The picturesque cliffs of King’s Landing. Dubrovnik, Croatia.

The addictive anguish is real—and it returns to HBO for a new season on Sunday.

After making history at the Emmys in September, the show is at an interesting crucible in its existence. Martin’s struggles in writing the next novel in the series are well-documented, so showrunners David Benioff and D.B. Weiss find themselves at a cultural crossroads. The show will now eclipse the timeline in the books, so—with help from Martin’s notes—Benioff and Weiss are now the shepherds of the story.

It’s an uniquely unenviable position.

The A Song of Ice and Fire novels are globally beloved. George enjoys a Tolkienesque infamy, so it’s fair to say that HBO’s upcoming season will be under a massive microscope. Can the series production team do justice to a larger-than-life tale without concrete source material? How much artistic license is being extended to Benioff and Weiss?

Will it diminish readership for the forthcoming sixth book?

Thrones enthusiasts—myself obviously included—are a famously impatient lot, so this season will prove an intriguing cultural study. Regardless of the level of fan response, there’s guaranteed to be lots and lots of blood along the way.