Admit it. We all loathe having to go to the bank. We’re always in a rush; the line is impossible; the person in front of you on said impossible line is apparently suffering through an identity theft crisis; your debit card is on warn status because it’s showing too many purchases at Bloomingdale’s in a 24-hour period; the system is down; the car ahead of you on the drive-through line can’t seem to get the tube back into the machine.
The list of annoyances seems endless.
But at the “the green bank” on the corner of Cross Bay Boulevard and 163rd Avenue, none of that was important. At least, not when Andrew was handling your transaction.
Miraculously, none of it seemed to matter. The smile, the greeting, the comfort of knowing no matter what ridiculous red-tape bank protocol was before you, it was all going to be just fine. Andrew Corkett was at your service. And whether it was at the window, behind a desk, or figuring out a way to stuff dog bones into an envelope and send them through the chute with your drive-through deposit, he made your day better. It wasn’t customer service. It was customer care. There is a huge difference.
Andrew was the difference.
Learning late Tuesday evening of his death was at first shocking; that jolt immediately gave way to a sense of almost indescribable hollowness.
How could it be that someone so young, so vital, so beloved, so wonderful, could just be gone?
We don’t know the circumstances surrounding Andrew’s death; only that his family has asked that their privacy be respected during this time. Of course their wishes should be upheld and supported.
What we do know is that the big, bright smile, the colorful shirts and ties, the custom, personal greetings, and the sincerest desire to help in any way that he could, will forever be absent.
This is one of those times when a community newspaper has the duty to remember someone who made that community a better place.
This space is known as the editorial, the voice of the newspaper. It is coveted and reserved for the most crucial issues and the most important and special individuals affecting our everyday lives. It’s a space associated with privilege of mention. We can’t remember a time when this space was reserved to remember someone more deserving to be known and recognized simply for their kindness, generosity of spirit, sincerity, and caring.
Many people stay in this life for many years without leaving a hint of an impression on those that surround them; there are but a few, here for what seems barely an instant, that leave a mark, indelibly etched in our hearts and minds.
Andrew Corkett was one of them.
To the Corkett family and so many friends and co-workers, we extend our deepest condolences for a loss that leaves all of us with a void that won’t ever be filled.
It will be with heavy hearts that we proceed through the doors of “the green bank” now. Even on the sunniest days it will seem a little darker without the light that was you, Andrew.
Whatever took you from this place and moved you to the next doesn’t matter.
It matters only that wherever you are, your brilliant, beautiful smile is–free from worry, free from burden.
Rest peacefully, dearest boy.
