“Everybody love everybody.”
That is what Tucson musician Gabriel Ayala says he learned from his son Tomas Ayala, who was killed recently in a crash.
When Ayala asked his son what he meant by that, Tomas Ayala told him that there is so much anger already and if everybody loved everybody, the world would be better.
“He just stopped me in my tracks, and it shocked me that this young man was even teaching me,” Gabriel said.
Gabriel described Tomas as a bright light, calling him the “most wonderful son in the world.” He was respectful, radiated love and always willing to go above and beyond in order to help people, whether or not he knew them.
He was one of those people who was always smiling and had an infectious laugh.
“No matter how I was feeling, his laugh would lift me up and that’s what I miss in this household right now,” Gabriel said.
Tomas Ayala, 20, the son of well-known Pascua Yaqui musician Gabriel Ayala, died on May 13 in a car crash in Sahuarita. The other driver involved in the crash, Camron Ortega, 24, has been arrested on suspicion of second-degree murder, driving under the influence and leaving the scene of an accident resulting in death.
Throughout middle school and high school, Tomas Ayala did it all. He played cello for many years, performed in several plays and loved to draw, his father said.
Despite his many talents, Tomas’ main passion was cooking. He aspired to be a chef.
Father and son would often barbecue together. At night they’d watch cooking shows.
Tomas Ayala made salads that were so beautiful, his father said, they’d look like pieces of art. Ayala said he’d tell his son they looked like they should be hanging on a wall.
“I don’t think there was ever a meal that I can say I didn’t love from him,” Gabriel Ayala said. “It was just amazing to see him cook, and be able to just sit back and watch him orchestrate these whole meals.”
Tomas Ayala eventually got a job at the Cup Café inside downtown Tucson’s Hotel Congress. He worked there for about 15 months and was loved by his colleagues, said Shana and Richard Oseran, the owners of the hotel.
Tomas Ayala was dedicated to his job. He’d prepare for work an hour before he had to leave. He even took his own special knives to the job interview, the elder Ayala says.
Once in a while, Gabriel Ayala would secretly go in and eat at the café. He would instantly be recognized as Tomas’ dad by his coworkers and later, Tomas would personally come out and deliver his food to the table.
Tomas loved working at the café and left a big impact despite only being there for a short time, the Oserans said.
“In his short time here on this earth he impacted many people, the people that he worked with and the people that he encountered,” Shana Oseran said. “When you meet a special person like that, you know you’ve been blessed.”
After the crash, Gabriel Ayala said he called the Oserans to explain why his son wouldn’t be at work, saying Tomas was proud of his work and would never want to let anybody down.
“He told me Tomas wouldn’t want anybody to think that he failed to go to work without calling in, so he made it a point to call,” Richard Oseran said.
The morning of the day he died, Ayala says he and his son drove together to pick up breakfast. During their trip, Gabriel told Tomas he should open his own food truck one day and had his full support.
“I said, I promise that I’ll buy it for you and be there for you,” Gabriel Ayala said. “He just smiled about it. It was just something that I wanted for him. I wanted him to be able to fully express himself and reach that full potential that I knew he had as an individual.”
Since his passing, so many of Tomas’ peers have reached out to the Ayala family and told them stories about how Tomas watched over them, kept them laughing or helped them be a better person.
Gabriel Ayala said they held a traditional Native American ceremony for his son. He’s also planning to hold a memorial concert in honor of Tomas Ayala at Hotel Congress soon.
Gabriel Ayala said he’d tell his son that one day, he was going to be a better man than him, and when that day came he’d be able to leave this world knowing Tomas would be okay. Though Tomas left before him, Gabriel Ayala said he’d already grown to be the better man.
“He always had to live in my shadow because of who I am and what I do as a musician. I hated he had to do that,” Gabriel Ayala said.
“But now, I tell people, I get to live in his shadow and I’m very honored to be that individual. Instead, I’m Gabriel Ayala, the father of Tomas Ayala, and for me that’s more important than anything in the world.”
