A “residual limb” is the bit of your own leg or arm that’s still attached to your body after the rest of it’s been amputated.

Kevin Gardere lost most of his left leg as the (eventual) result of a drunken car wreck that propelled his car into somebody else’s house at 1am and propelled him into a life of saving other people from the results of chronic addiction.

Kevin is the Executive Director of Development at Bridge House/Grace House and, besides having a fascinating $40,000 leg, knows a thing or two about the opioid addiction that is sweeping the city, state, and nation.

Andrew Principe knows a bit about medically driven disasters as well. Andrew spends his days making sure that people who can’t afford medical attention get it anyway. Andrew’s company, Starling Advisors, are kind of like good-guy medical lobbyists. Oh, and by the way, this is the year he’s getting over his divorce and getting serious about a relationship again, so if you’re in the market…

Jason Bishop, on paper, is the guy at this table who should have a drug and alcohol problem. Jason spends his life in bars and clubs in the South paying mostly traditional High Lonesome country music with his band The Two Dollar Pistols – though there’s a good chance they’re going to call themselves The Residual Limbs after this conversation. Actually, Jason is as clean as a whistle, doesn’t drink or do drugs and never had to go to rehab ’cause he never started.

This Happy Hour is a conversation that not only defies expectations, it’s a candid insight into addiction and medical attention that you’ve probably never heard: over cocktails.

Photos at Wayfare by Cheryl DalPozzal.