I have never forgotten, and I will never forget my beloved niece Shanika.

February 6, 2017

David L. Webster
4002 12th Street
Long Island City, NY 11101

Your Honor,

I am writing in reference to Shanika Taylor in the matter before the court of custody of her sons A'Lonte and Ayden Taylor.

I am Shanika's uncle and have known her for her entire life.

I obtained a profound understanding of the quality of Shanika's character in 2011.  Up until that point in my life I had experienced nothing but success.  I had completed a Ph.D. at the University of Chicago, had established a thriving management consulting business serving pharmaceutical and biotechnology companies, and was raising my daughter with my wife Pam in a comfortable house in Nazareth, Pennsylvania.  My family and I had an idyllic life.

I started suffering from an undiagnosed illness in 2007 that ultimately turned my and my family's world upside down.  On January 8, 2011, our home in Nazareth was foreclosed.  We had nowhere to go.  None of my family members, including my parents and my three brothers and one sister, all of them of substantial means and with spacious accommodations, offered us any assistance.  Although some of my friends were supportive, none of them stepped forward to offer the three of us a place to stay.

Into the breach stepped Shanika.  Not wanting us to go into a homeless shelter, she generously offered me, my wife, and my daughter Kaisha a place in her apartment.  Shanika was critical to my family's ability to regroup and get on our feet again, and we are all thriving today due in large part to her generosity.  I cannot imagine where we would be without Shanika's empathy, her compassion, and her willingness to share her limited resources with a family in need.

I have never forgotten, and I will never forget my beloved niece Shanika.  I can attest to her character in this letter with words, but Shanika demonstrates her character every day with something far more important - deeds.  Despite our significant age difference, Shanika is a role model for me and I aspire every day to live up to her example of kindness and compassion, her example of sacrifice for others.

I have witnessed that same spirit of sacrifice and support countless times with her sons Zachariah, A'Lonte, and Ayden.  I have seen with my own eyes and felt with my own heart the love Shanika has for her children, and I have never witnessed any incidents of physical and emotional abuse.

In closing, I will say simply that I hold Shanika in my highest esteem.

With kind regards,

David L. Webster