LIVERMORE FALLS – They were ready to begin the next phase of their lives.

And some members of the Livermore Falls High School Class of 2007 had been waiting for graduation day for a long time.

They had plans they were going to follow.

Josie Leadbetter of Livermore and Kayla Gray of Livermore Falls, friends since seventh grade, helped each other with their white graduation robes and gold sashes prior to graduation exercises beginning Saturday.

“I’m really excited,” Gray said. “It seems like I’ve been waiting for this day forever.”

She’s off to a motorcycle mechanics institute in Florida this fall while Leadbetter plans to take college courses through the SAD 36/Jay Adult Education Center to study business management.

Nicholas Berry of Livermore straightened his sash before he left the academic wing to join peers in the lobby.

“I’m excited and anxious,” he said. He plans to go the University of Maine at Farmington to major in English to become a writer, and if that doesn’t work out, he’s going to be an editor.

In the lobby, seniors posed for pictures, hugged family and friends and even had a few laughs.

Many were talking on their cell phones before the line-up call.

“I’m nervous as heck,” Naomi Martinez of Livermore Falls said. “I was pretty calm this morning, Now I’m like ‘Oh, my God,’ there are too many people.”

Then it was time.

To the traditional graduation march of “Pomp and Circumstance,” they moved in unison, steps timed just right.

Cameras flashed and video cameras rolled as the 59 graduates moved toward their seats.

Principal Shawn Lambert, Superintendent Terry Despres, classmates and their staff advisers each shared words of wisdom to guide them in the future.

They heard about the seven virtues: fortitude, temperance, prudence, justice, faith, hope and charity..

They learned about using common sense and doing their civic responsibility.

It wasn’t all serious; there were also moments of laughter.

“There is no doubt than we have all worked hard to reach graduation day and we should be proud of our accomplishment for it is indeed impressive,” said Valedictorian Davis Mercier of Fayette, who described each of the students’ lives as a puzzle.

“This is why after graduation people will give us lots of money and cake. But it is also important to remember that we are not the only ones who worked to complete the puzzle of our lives. We must remember those people that helped us find that piece that fell under the table and was chewed by the cat before anyone could find it. These are the people who helped us become who we are today and to whom we owe infinite gratitude,” he said.

Davis told them to remember the teachers who helped them, the friendships that have been formed and most important of all, “remember your family.”

“Too often we take this crazy bunch of people closest to us for granted. But is our family that has dealt with us, right up from that extremely painful 12-hour-long birth,” Davis said.

“Thanks again for that mom. Every act our family does for us is an act of love and to this we owe them a great deal. Every time we are told to mow the lawn, or do the dishes or put that cookie down, it is an act of love. So for this reason, remember to appreciate your families. Tell them you love them. Not only is it the right thing to do, but it’ll also come in handy for when you mess up and back the car into a mailbox or the garage door.”

Retiring high school librarian Sandra Hoyt directed the senior chorus in two songs before she gave graduates their marching orders.

“I charge you, the class of 2007, to make a difference every moment of every day of your life. I charge you to become loving spouses, caring parents, supportive neighbors, involved citizens, and grateful sons and daughters I charge you to use every God-given talent you have to serve others and to make this world a better place. Go and make a difference,” Hoyt said.