Seven-year promise is kept

CLOVIS — Christian Flores and Ana Mah's families weren't sure what the theme of Clovis' prom was Saturday night.

They decided "Kiki and Lala" was a perfect theme, with seven years and 1,300 miles in the making.

The former classmates and neighbors from a decade ago reunited for a promise from seven years ago to attend Christian's junior prom together.

Christian and Ana - aka Kiki and Lala - first met at Sandia Elementary when she was 9 and he 8, and frequently interacted as both are diagnosed with Down syndrome.

The friendship took off when their mothers had a chance meeting outside of the school. Elizabeth Mah and Elizabeth Flores discovered they shared first names, and the similarities never stopped.

"We were both down there fighting for our children's education; I think that's how we met," Flores said. "They lived on Plains, we lived on Circle. For two or three years, we didn't even know we were neighbors."

Christian has always been known as "Kiki," and Ana picked up her "Lala" nickname when Christian couldn't quite pronounce Ana.

"Only he calls me Lala," Ana, now 19, said of their bond, which built over dates at McDonald's and the time Christian gifted her a ring and "boots with the fur" because he loved the Flo-Rida song.

The families have their own song for the two. Mah starts singing, "Kiki and Lalalala ..." as both kids hide their faces in embarrassment. The mothers insist they sing along when only family is around.

Over the years since Ana's family moved back to Suisun City, California, everybody's kept in touch - the mothers through phone calls, the kids through Facebook Messenger's live video feature.

Flores said despite the distance, the friendship works because they provide each other a sounding board. Both families are glad Ana and Christian have no physical limitations, but every once in a while the kids do something unexpected.

"Does Kiki do this? It's OK, then ... Does Lala do that? It's OK, then," is how Flores said many conversations go.

Pretty soon, it was Christian's junior year. Flores said it was hard to forget, because no grocery store trip can end without somebody asking if "Lala" was coming to prom.

"Everybody knows," Flores said, "everybody's looking forward to it."

Long story short, the Mah family made a few calls to school administrators to get clearance for Ana, now 19. After that, the family cleared out a few days for the drive to Clovis - 18 hours if traffic's good, Mah said.

Despite seeing each other online over the years, there was still some surprise when they met up again. When asked about the reunion, Ana marveled at how much taller Christian got, and Christian made a heart sign with his hand to signify the love hasn't died between them.

"The first thing he did," Mah said, while touching a hand to demonstrate, "was look at her hand and say, 'Where's my ring?'"

Plans are in the works to get a new ring, but the first priority is prom.

The next priority is when they'll see each other again.

"When you guys come to California," Mah said with both a smile and a serious look. "It's your turn."