Jimmy Buffett’s last words to family summed up a message he’d been singing for decades. His sister says that the legend had no intention of resting in peace.
Lucy “LuLu” Buffett wrote a reflection for the Keys Citizen, a daily newspaper for the Florida Keys. At the end, she reveals the last words “Bubba” — her nickname for Buffett — said to her. The family hasn’t shared if he said more to others after, but it’s clear he got his chance to say goodbye to just about everyone.
“We had a beautiful goodbye visit earlier in the week,” the younger Buffett says. “He had my grandfather’s twinkle in his eye to the end and he was very clear that the music, the party and the good life was to continue with his robust optimism in tow.”
Jimmy Buffett’s Last Words to His Sister
Jimmy Buffett was an older brother to Lucy and Laurie (“LaLa”). “I always felt safe in a world that he was in because as my big brother, he felt like my protector,” she admits.
The article finds her mourning, but also smiling as she reflected on a life well-lived. Even for someone as public as Buffett, this perspective is refreshing and personal. LuLu Buffett speaks fondly of their raising and how his work ethic powered a successful career as family life anchored him in the now.
Related: Jimmy Buffett’s Cause of Death Revealed
Of his skin cancer diagnosis, she says Buffett didn’t make a big deal of it, even as he went through he highs and lows of treatment. “He was the best person I know that could ‘breathe in, breathe out and move on’ after hard news,” she writes.
Toward the end, she shares, the family knew they needed a miracle to save his life, but ultimately decided the miracle was having four years with him after his diagnosis.
“I know that he is flying high above Mother Ocean, soaring up to the Pleiades, and was gliding over Duval Street yesterday,” she says, referring to the New Orleans style parade citizens of Key West threw in Buffett’s honor.
“He didn’t care about resting in peace. The last words he whispered to me were, ‘Have fun.'”
Buffett was 76 years old when he died on September 1.
See Inside Jimmy Buffett’s Staggering $6.9 Million Palm Beach Mansion
The interior centers around a combined dining and living room with eye-popping vaulted ceilings topped off by skylights, while a massive wall of mahogany-framed sliding glass doors looks out over the pool area outside. The kitchen is decorated in gleaming white, and each of the bedrooms has its own attached bathroom, while the massive master suite also has sliding glass doors that open to both the pool and a bathroom that looks like it belongs in a high-end resort.
The exterior of the house is just as striking, centered around a sparkling pool of deep cobalt blue. The pool area features plenty of lounging, and a loggia just outside the living room offers open-air dining. There are lush gardens, brick paths that walk through elaborate pergolas and a fountain. The property also features a two-car garage with a guest suite overhead, and it offers deeded access to the beach nearby.