means hearing noises at night. Living in my building means knowing that those noises are paramedics carrying my grandfather down five flights of stairs— roughly—smoke tinseling from each limb, wrapped in ripe orange plastic. My grandfather. 2 AM. Living in an apartment building means turning down the volume to hear the paramedics talking about football while they fumble with my grandfather. Five flights; it’s like death isn’t quite ready to pull the shades on life. My grandfather. His limbs are like dried-out branches— a blue spruce on January 1st. He’s a fire hazard. Tinsel. Living in an apartment building means not always living or not living always or not living all ways. The noises at night always end with a glass of Cran-Raspberry, my girlfriend asleep, my grandfather rifling through the recycling bins.