MADISON -- Maine Attorney General Janet Mills of Farmington took a page from her own book growing up in central Maine, going to school and then moving on, Friday night in her commencement address at Madison Area Memorial High School.

"Like most 18-year-olds, I was pretty much up in the air, uncertain about what the future held in store," Mills told the Class of 2009. "In those years we thought the Beatles would never die, that the Vietnam war would never end, that we never really would grow up."

Mills said she asked herself what she could say to these students, Friday night, that she would have told herself back in the day.

"You yourself understand what this passage means to you," she said, drawing from seven ideas for a good, happy life. "I will tell you simply that, as the doors of these classrooms close, others will open. "The door opens, as Graham Greene puts it, to let the future in. Today your horizons are broad and beckoning."

The points Mills noted were: Use language wisely (it really does matter); learn a good handshake; take risks; be honest; have a friend and be a friend; take charge; and be happy.

"A wise woman told me, 'Janet, make sure that you regret the things that you did do in life, not the things you didn't do.' So take risks," she said.

The class motto, strung high above the stage where graduating seniors sat, waiting to receive their diplomas, said: Life brings us tears, smiles and memories -- the tears dry, the smiles fade, but the memories last forever.

Following the grand processional to the strains of "Pomp and Circumstance," Nicole Benner, co-valedictorian and class president, told her fellow graduates that they all have become family.

"Some of you have become more than friends, you have become family," she said. "We are forever connected with our family and there's nothing we can say or do about it. Some families are not related by blood; they can be considered family because of the love they have for each other."

The farewell to the Class of 2009 was delivered by co-valedictorian Cecil Thibodeau.

Madison Area Memorial High School class of 2009:

Erin Abbott, Nico Barney, Nicole Benner, Sean Bixby, Brandon Boudreault, Alexis Casey, Brooklyn Chadbourne, Garth Clark, Richard Clark, Cassidy Davis, Maxime Dussong, Ashley Edgerly, Simon Elias, Scott Findley, Aaron Fluellen, Nicole Francis, Tucker Freeman, Brittany Garland, James Gordon, Ezra Gourley, Justen Grant, Theresa Hayden, Marc Jumel, Max Klinker, Aric Libby, Jolene Libby, Erin Lightbody, Jacob Linkletter, Heather Magurn, Christy-lea McLean, Brianna Moore, Ashley Noel, Chantelle Osgood, Victoria Palmer, Samuel Perkins, Ashley Polson, Desaray Pullen, Melinda Rackliff, Courtney Randall, Jason Savage, Keyra Shedd, Joshua Sirois, Zachary Small, Matthew Smith, Mallory Stratton, Cecile Thibodeau, Kimberly Thibodeau, Alyssa Turcotte, Dustin Tuttle and Brittney Williams.

Doug Harlow -- 474-9534, ext. 342

dharlow@centralmaine.com