I woke up early Wednesday morning and cried watching Dancing With The Stars Tribute by Julia Stiles to “10 Things I Hate About You” honoring her co-star who passed away. Directly after that I wrote this post. Although I don’t recall every scene on the whole video (so this is not a promotional of it), I do recall watching the speech “10 Things I Hate About You.” I also remember the bleacher scene, the music and its impact. In fact, the speech inspired me to write this poem to process a little while back, a piece I never planned on sharing because for some reason it felt too personal, too raw, too real and too much. I titled it “I Do, Finally…”

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I Do, FINALLY

By Grace Atherton

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Do you care about me?

Cause I really care about you.

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Please don’t say the words

Just keep it in your head

Cause when the words come out

They’ll be forever stuck in my head

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If it isn’t for real

I’d rather it wasn’t ever said

Cause fake has become normal

And real has become pretend.

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Do you even know me,

Or is it the image you made in your head,

Is caring about me replaceable

Or is it something deeper than surface level?

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Does that mean just for today?

Or the hard days too.

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Is it for high tide and low tide

For sunrise and sunset

Will it make it through a hurricane

Cause that’s the weather I am used to 

and that’s the weather I was in.

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Do you care about me?

Cause I really care about you.

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Please just say it,

Don’t leave it in your head,

But make sure the words are true,

Not just another thing that is said.

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Even if I don’t reciprocate at first

Would you put it on the line, 

Would you take a risk over and over

Until I believed you were actually fine.

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Would you say it with no strings attached

Would you say it without trying to get something out of me

Would you say it because you meant it

Would you protect my body, heart, soul and mind?

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Would you fight for me when I am weak

Would you fight when I am strong,

Would you be willing to stand beside me

Until right has taken the place of everything that has gone wrong.

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Would you be able to handle every piece of my story,

Would you believe me if I honestly shared my life,

Could you handle the heat of the pressure,

Could you be a warrior by my side?

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I am no longer in a storm,

The weather I once only knew,

The sunrise has happened on the ocean,

It’s high tide too.

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It’s a new horizon,

It’s a new day,

The past has washed out to sea,

The future has come in over the gray. 

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Do you care about me?

Cause I’m trying to decide if I really care about you!

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I’m not interested in a boy,

To walk hand in hand, 

I’m looking for a man, 

Who has courage and character to stand. 

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Who can treat me like a lady

And I can treat him like a king,

I’m over all the shenanigans,

I don’t have time for any more fake scenes.

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Do you care about me?

I do – FINALLY!

Cause what if… 

What if just maybe I care about you?