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Ezra Cruz and Rafael Cruz

Ezra Cruz and Rafael Cruz were father and son from Ezra’s birth on July 29, 2006, until Rafael’s death in 2022. Rafael introduced Ezra to music and encouraged his development as a performer. Their relationship changed as Rafael’s construction injury, chronic pain, and substance dependence made him increasingly unavailable to his family.

Origins and Early Relationship

Rafael became a father while he and Marisol were teenagers. He worked to support the household and remained involved as Ezra grew up. Rafael played guitar, and music became one of the clearest connections between father and son.

Ezra closely resembled Rafael, sharing his deep brown skin, thick dark curls, dark eyes, lean build, and crooked smile. He also inherited Rafael’s musical aptitude, charisma, and comfort in performance.

Music

Rafael had once hoped to pursue music professionally and became Ezra’s first musical teacher. He shared guitar and vocal music with Ezra, guided his hands on the strings, and taught him rhythms through playing together. In one of Ezra’s remembered good moments with him, Rafael played classic bachata on guitar while Ezra sang. Rafael grinned and told him, “You’re gonna fucking dominate someday, mijo.”

The moment remained one of Ezra’s direct memories of his father’s musical encouragement. Ezra later became a professional trumpeter and vocalist, while Rafael’s guitar playing remained part of his early musical history.

Injury and Decline

Rafael worked in construction after the family moved from Puerto Rico to the Miami area. At approximately twenty-five, he fell more than ten feet because a coworker had failed to place equipment properly. The injury caused permanent disability and severe chronic pain. Opioid treatment and a prolonged workers’ compensation fight followed.

Rafael’s closest friend, Hector Burgos, died in a car accident after the injury, when Ezra was eight. Rafael became more withdrawn and melancholy afterward, laughed less, and struggled to remain present with Ezra, Luna, and Marisol. Ezra recognized during adolescence that his father was using pain medication to numb himself, even when the family did not discuss the situation directly.

Death and Aftermath

Rafael died from an accidental fentanyl overdose in 2022. Ezra found him unresponsive and called 911; Marisol and Luna were not home at the time. The death left Ezra with lasting grief and remained part of his later addiction-and-recovery history.

Ezra later named his son Rafael Héctor Cruz after Rafael and Hector. The name preserved both men within Ezra’s immediate family without changing Raffie’s status as a separate namesake rather than a junior.

Relationships Family Relationships Ezra Cruz Rafael Cruz Cruz Family