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making memories not without my father

Making Memories with Steven Addis of TED X

"Will you take our picture?" Steven Addis introduces himself and his daughter to a random stranger. Accosting unknowns for camera duty started as a whim. On a NYC street corner, he held his one-year-old daughter in his arms. They smiled, retrieved the camera and went home. He didn't realize he Made a Memory until the next year. Coincidence led him to the same street corner with his two-year-old daughter. Another passerby. A duplicate shot with a bigger girl and an older man.

“Will you take our picture?”

Steven Addis introduces himself and his daughter to a random stranger. Accosting unknowns for camera duty started as a whim.

On a NYC street corner, he held his one-year-old daughter in his arms.

They smiled, retrieved the camera and went home. He didn’t realize he was making memories until the next year. Coincidence led him to the same street corner with his two-year-old daughter. Another passerby. A duplicate shot with a bigger girl and an older man.

By year three, his wife forced him and his three-year-old daughter to make the trek to NYC. Tradition led them to the same shot. Year. After year. After year.

Addis recounts fifteen years of annual photographs in his popular Ted Talk. But here’s what he learned:

“One of the most important things we all make are memories.” – Steven Addis

Enjoy his two-and-a-half-minute Ted Talk here:

Join the Make a Memory Movement. The Huffington Post calls Not Without My Father “one literary ride you don’t want to miss.” Get your copy of Not Without My Father. Be inspired to Make a Memory with someone who matters.

Not Without My Father will change your life.

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18 Comments

  1. This is awesome!

    1. Author

      A simple way to make memories. People don’t have to fly to NYC to do it. They can do this one anywhere.

  2. Love this. By the way, I’ve tried several times to “pin” this on Pinterest and it says it cannot connect with you. 🙁 Maybe it’s on my end…not sure, but wanted you to know.

  3. Yeah, that is pretty darn cool. I’ll have a memory to share after this weekend.

    1. Author

      Great! I’m getting my media calendar solidified for February right now. And I want to hear about your submission.

  4. These days my daughter recounts things we did when she was younger, things I never thought she would remember, but some of those memories are her favorites. Odd things like sitting out in one of my old MGs while I worked on it. Or even just running errands. Sometimes you never know what is going to be significant. And as the saying goes, sometimes the most important thing is just showing up.

    1. Author

      I’m glad she’s sharing these memories with you. It’s a neat window into who she’s becoming.

  5. Michael Carnell is right. Showing up is the most important thing to starting the making memory process. Memory is the only thing that stays with us. I’m not a tangible possessions kinda girl, but I do remember the aromas from my first trip to a bakery when I was less than 3. I remember the look in my husband’s eyes has he spoke our wedding vows, and the scent of my first son’s head as I held him rocking in the dark and looking at the full moon as viewed from his nursery window. These are the substance of my life.

    Thank you Andra for continuing your campaign to help us remember that experience is life.

  6. That is so touching!!! I love that catalogue of photos! What a wonderful idea. And how cool that he could make that trip with his daughter year after year!

  7. What a great concept! Thank you for sharing this

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