When Caesar crossed the Rubicon there was no going back; he was committed. How like the bond we create once an animal companion enters our lives. We are irrevocably changed. Crossing the Rubicon: The Human-Animal Bond in Life and Death celebrates these changes. A collection of stories, poems, interviews and exercises, the book is helpful to anyone coping with the loss of a dear animal friend. It is also pertinent to the reader who wants to help someone grieve their loss or better understand the full meaning of the physical, psychological and spiritual roles pets play in our lives. And as the animal messengers in these pages tell us, it is not only our pets lives that enrich us, but their deaths and their message from beyond death that affect us as well.