VIDALIA — When Crystal McManus told her best friend, Kristi Gillespie, she was pregnant with her first child nearly 14 years ago, little did she know Kristi was also pregnant with her first child.

Crystal’s daughter, Shelbi, was 17 days old and accompanied her mother to the hospital when Kristi’s son, Chase, was born.

The two Vidalia natives have spent nearly the last 14 years raising their children together, joking about the day Chase and Shelbi would go to their first dance together.

That day came Saturday, when the two Delta Charter School eighth-graders attended their first formal dance together at the Panola Woods Country Club.

“We always joked about them growing up and going to dances together; it’s funny that it’s happening now,” Crystal said.

When The Dart landed on Peach Street Friday, it found Chase and his mother making plans for a dinner with Shelbi and her family before the dance.

Kristi and Crystal graduated from Vidalia High School together in 1999 and say their children have been the bond that has held them together through the years.

“People drift apart and go their separate ways after high school, but I think going through all the same experiences of motherhood at the same time really kept us close,” Kristi said.

Chase and Shelbi have become best friends in the process, too.

“He’s always been there for me … he’s my best friend, and he always will be,” Shelbi said.

Crystal and Shelbi live in Sicily Island now, but Chase says he and Shelby can always find time to ride four-wheelers or dirt bikes.

“She’s fun,” he said.

They have done just about everything together since they were born, so it only makes sense Chase and Shelbi would experience a classic middle school rite of passage together.

Shelbi grinned when she said getting ready for winter formal felt a little like going to prom, but added she believed her mother and Kristi were having more fun planning the day for her and Chase.

“I think they’re way more excited than we are,” she said, laughing.

The mothers snapped photographs of Chase, Shelbi and a few friends at Crystal’s father’s Mimosa Drive house Saturday before the dance.

Kristi and Crystal say the dance is just one milestone for their children they will be able to share together.

“We’ll always be a part of each other’s lives,” Crystal said. “We’ll always be friends. I see our kids going to school together, graduating together and who knows what after that.”