When I was a junior or senior in high school, our literature teacher assigned us to read one Shakespeare play of our own choosing before the end of the school year. While some of my friends chose the tragic tale of the romance of Romeo and Juliet, and while others chose the off-the-wall comedy of A Midsummer Night's Dream, I chose the classic story of rivalry and betrayal in Julius Caesar.

I'll admit--I didn't read it all (I'm sorry, Mrs. Smith). I used SparkNotes to fill in a few gaps. But I read the majority of it, and I still remember the line that hit me the hardest, opening me up to a new way of thinking at a time when I was making tons and tons of decisions regarding my future.

The passage, spoken in the play by Brutus, reads:

"There is a tide in the affairs of men,
Which taken at the flood, leads on to fortune.
Omitted, all the voyage of their life is bound in shallows and in miseries.
On such a full sea are we now afloat.
And we must take the current when it serves, or lose our ventures."

I've always had my own thoughts on and interpretation of this passage, but I'm not a literary analyst by any means. After seeking out a little help from a literary website, I found it had this to say:

"It means to grab opportunities, whenever they arise before we lose them with delaying."

Which is pretty much what I thought it meant.

A couple weeks ago, my best friend at college, my other half, told me that she had decided to transfer to a different university. Her announcement knocked the wind out of me. Immediately, I panicked.

I thought, selfishly, "How will I get through these next two years without her? How will I spend my days without her in each of them?" Many tears were shed as I wallowed in my own pity, barely taking her feelings of discomfort and discontentment into consideration.

But then, I remembered, "There is a tide in the affairs of men."

As Shakespeare wrote, "On such a full sea we are now afloat." My girl has helped me to float in these past two years. I have told her on many occasions that she is often the only thing that keeps my head above water. Despite it all, she arrived at a part of her voyage where she had a choice to make.

She is taking the current, riding the fullness of the wave, headed for fortune and destined for greatness.

I hope she knows that I'll be on shore cheering her on.