When Robert Stone graduated from Green Run High School in Virginia Beach in 2008, he had a list of regrets: not earning an honors sash, not applying to a big college and putting a social life over getting involved in school activities. Instead of wallowing in self-pity, Stone wrote a letter to his little brother Andrew, who was about to start high school and taped it to his little brother's door.
"I know you're about to enter into your first year in high school and I don't want you to follow into my footsteps," Robert wrote in the letter he taped to Andrew's door nearly four years ago Thursday. "Go to a big college and put the smile on Mom's face that I couldn't with that Honors sash."
As Andrew walked across the stage during his high school graduation from Green Run High, he proudly wore the sash his brother Robert encouraged him to earn.
"He was always my role model," said Andrew, who has read his brother's letter every day for four years. "He's my hero".
Andrew will be attending Virginia Tech in the fall. He said he will keep several copies of his brother's letter with him.
