Writing to help heal old wounds Jamaica-born author finding peace while telling life story

What began as a way for 43-year-old LaToya Thompson to make sense of her childhood, has grown into a series of books chronicling abandonment, instability and the strength she found along the way.

“I have always been journalling. I have been writing for years. It is a way to process how I lived and what I was feeling. Writing was where I could say things I couldn’t always say aloud,” she said.

Now older and reflecting on her journey, Thompson, who grew up in Southside in Kingston Central and now resides in the United States, said she has come to understand that her writing was about more than simply recording painful memories.

“I wasn’t just documenting my pain, I was documenting my survival, my healing, and that’s when I started thinking maybe my story could help someone. So I began to organise those memories and journal entries into what eventually became Unchosen and Unprotected,” she said.

Thompson is referring to the two books she authored which she describes as a memoir series. The first publication, Unchosen, follows her early life, while her second memoir, Unprotected: Learning to Survive Before Learning to Heal, chronicles the period between ages 13 and 21, exploring immigration, foster care, violence, and young motherhood. For Thompson, the decision to tell her story across multiple books was deliberate.

“It is a series. I didn’t want to compile my 43 years in one book because I don’t think people would get it that way. So the next book will move further into my adult life in America, being a mother, and a relationship,” she explained.

As she looks back on her childhood, Thompson is careful to acknowledge that her memories were not entirely defined by hardship.

“There were beautiful parts of growing up, the sense of community, but my childhood was marked by abandonment and I had to just grow up quickly, and that created a lot of confusion and hurt,” she said.

At six weeks old, Thompson was given to her godmother, while her mother migrated when Thompson was two years old. She said she never lived with her mother. From there, her childhood was characterised by inconsistent care and protection.

“I experienced being left in the care of different people, 27 people. These people were not my blood, but sometimes my godmother’s friend, or another friend, friends of my parents, just a mixture of friends and parents,” she recalled.

Among the people who cared for her was a woman she remembers as May-May, who, despite having no blood relation to Thompson, kept her for the longest period.

“After moving around and moving around, I was there at the age of around seven,” she said.

At 13, Thompson migrated and believed that reuniting with her mother and changing her surroundings would mark a turning point in her life. Instead, she said, she discovered that physical distance could not erase emotional wounds.

“I learned changing countries doesn’t change the emotions I was carrying. I came with hope, but it was just years of wounds too. Life changed a lot on the outside, but emotionally I was still carrying everything. So it was like my surroundings changed but the circumstances didn’t,” she said.

Now a mother of four and a grandmother, Thompson said her own childhood experiences have shaped the way she raises her children.

“I became intentional in giving my children what I didn’t have – stability and protection and just to know they are loved and where home is. I am not a perfect mom, but I made a conscious decision to ensure that the cycle looked different,” she said.

Thompson has not considered herself completely healed but believes the process of writing has helped her confront and understand much of what she experienced.

“It is a day-to-day journey, but I have healed in many ways,” she said.