Tammy Faye, R.I.P.

If ever there was someone that truly made me understand the saying R.I.P., aka Rest In Peace, it's Tammy Faye Messner. Although she is known for her outside more than her inside, and has said she wears the makeup she does because she feels ugly without it, it's odd that of all people, she's the one that sees people as the they truly are on the inside, and speaks of forgiving people.

We all came to know Tammy Faye when she was marked to Jim Bakker of the PTL Ministries. They created this ministry together and became known for their extravagance, with things such as gold-plated bathroom fixtures. Their millions fell once it became known that he had an affair and that both Jim and Tammy Faye had been bilking money on behalf of their ministry. Jim went to jail and and Tammy Faye stood dutifully by his side.

Tammy Faye became a joke at that point, as that was all we saw of her. We didn't see the person inside, unless we were a faithful watcher of their evangelist TV show, and we only saw this woman that was connected to stealing money, was married to an adulterer, and wore tons of makeup, to the point of becoming a joke. She had tattooed eyebrows and had several coats of dark, dark mascara that would run mercilessly when she'd cry, which was often.

Shocking the world, Tammy Faye divorced Jim while he was still locked up, and turned her attention on Roe Messner, a man connected with the PTL, who eventually did his own short stint in prison. She began opening up more after her second marriage, and while she still wore the heavy, outlandish makeup, we began to see a different side to her. She allowed us on the inside.

It wasn't until Tammy Faye surprisingly joined the reality series Surreal Life that we saw just how wonderful of a person she was. Locked in a house for twelve days with Erik Estrada, Vanilla Ice, and Ron Jeremy, among others, she still had her strict Christian values, but she was no prude. She refused to go inside the nudist colony they visited, but didn't look down on the ones that did. She didn't partake in Ron's outlandish party by the pool, but never got upset with him because of his lifestyle.

The most telling part to who Tammy Faye really was as a person was on an episode of Surreal Life where she did a book signing for one of her inspirational books. In the audience there weren't a lot of older prim and proper Christians, but young gays and transvestites. She preached forgiveness. She preached accepting people for who they are. And she preached living your life to its fullest. She talked of carrying around a dead person on her back for many years, and said if you do that for too long, the dead person kills you. Yet, Tammy Faye got rid of that dead person. She decided to drop that dead person off her back and live her life.

Our last look at Tammy Faye was the day before she died on Larry King's show. She appeared frail, weighing in at 65 lb. from not being able to eat anything but chicken soup and rice pudding. Yet, she said she didn't fear for herself. She had some fear for her children, but not of herself. She knew where she was going when she died. So today, I believe that Tammy Faye really is resting in peace.