The Story Here

Note: Portions of this were originally posted as an article in Islandista Magazine, a Caribbean women's publication I edited and published between 2008 to 2018. Significant modifications have been made to update it. "My $i$tren!!! My hitta!!! I know I tell you thi$ all the time, but Money cud neva buy what you give me!! Our friend$hip will alway$ be family! " Thus read part of the raunchy, riotous and deeply heartfelt birthday message which Barbadian superstar Rihanna posted on Instagram back in 2014 in tribute to her long-time best friend Melissa Forde . The post celebrated a friendship that stretches back decades to their days as schoolgirls at Barbados' Combermere School and which has stood the test of time and mind-boggling, world-wide fame. The two women's enduring bond illustrates the power of female friendship, a point Rihanna referred to in her Instagram tribute when she expressed her gratitude, saying: "I will never take for granted the day you ...