Cadence and Emerson Cordell, two young sisters from Massachusetts, have wanted to adopt a new dog since last August, after the family’s much-loved 10-year-old dog died of cancer.
No matter how much 12-year-old Cadence, 9-year-old Emerson, or their three little brothers begged, they just couldn’t get their parents to agree.
But where there’s a will, there’s a way, and the sisters knew there had to be one method of persuasion out there that would convince their mom and dad to get a new puppy. They wondered what their parents would say if it wasn’t just five kids asking for a canine companion, but thousands of people.
Determined to get that coveted “yes” from their parents and finally greet the new family dog they’d wanted for so long, Cadence and Emerson came up with a creative plan.
The enterprising duo wondered whether a social media campaign would get their mom and dad’s attention. Inspired by another Massachusetts family, the Urbanos, whose Facebook campaign landed them a new cat named Hairietta, the girls asked if they were to get 1 million likes from the Facebook community whether that would be enough to earn them a new four-legged friend.
The girls’ parents, Ryan and Evie Cordell, thought there was no way their daughters’ plan would catch on — which may have been why they agreed so readily to play along.
“They were joking with my husband and said, ‘What if we got 1 million likes?’ and my husband was like ‘Sure,” Evie explained.
So on Tuesday, with the help of their mom Evie, Cadence and Emerson launched a Facebook page, Twogirlsandapuppy. At the top of the page, Evie posted a photo of the Cordell kids holding a handmade sign: “Hi World,” it read. “We want a puppy! Our dad said we could get one if we get 1 million likes! He doesn’t think we can do it! So ‘LIKE’ this!”
Little did the family know that Cadence and Emerson would reach their goal much sooner than expected — only 13 hours later, their Facebook plea had reached the 1 million “likes” mark the girls had set for themselves. Ryan and Evie were shocked.
“I really don’t know how it moved so quickly,” Evie told ABC News. “We thought it’d top out at maybe 2,000 people.”
Ryan and Evie surprised their kids with the good news Wednesday morning.
“They didn’t quite believe it had happened so quickly,” Ryan said. Ecstatic after their victorious campaign, Emerson decided to try and up the ante. “My youngest daughter thinks every million we reach we should get another puppy, which is not going to happen,” Ryan explained.
But the proud parents did hold up their end of the bargain, and Thursday morning the family visited North Shore Animal League America to pick out their new best friend, a young pup named Millie.
Evie captured the happy moment on camera and posted a video of Cadence introducing Millie on the Facebook page.
“They definitely earned it,” Ryan told the NYDailyNews.com. “They proved Dad wrong. That’s for sure.”
Sources: ABC News, Facebook.com/Twogirlsandapuppy, Mashable.com, NYDailyNews.com
