NEW YORK (1010 WINS) — Carol Geis was just 17-years-old when she met her future husband, Ronnie Geis.
"He bought me a shot of 151, and I was out in the street puking my guts out as he was leaving the bar," she recalled with a laugh in an interview with 1010 WINS.
The pair got married, had three boys and became "that couple" — the ones that hold hands everywhere they go, and never let go. Their "forever song" was "Unchained Melody."
They made their home on Long Island. Ronnie worked at FDNY Squad 288. He went to work on 9/11, but never came home.
"I miss his voice. I miss his smile. All of those silly things," Carol said.
Just 10 days after 9/11, Carol made the decision to take her boys to the Mets-Braves game — the first home game in New York since the attacks.
The emotions were still very raw. Catcher Mike Piazza was struggling that night as well.
"I remember praying to God to help me get through the night, just survive through the night," Piazza told 1010 WINS.
Then, in the bottom of the eighth inning, with the Mets trailing by one, Piazza stepped to the plate and hit a two-run home run.
"The crack of that bat, that did it. 'Oh my God, my children are smiling. There's a light at the end of this tunnel,'" Carol recalled thinking. "'We have a chance. We're gonna do this.'"
"People looked to that moment and they attached some heroic labels to it, but I said, the true heroes are the ones that were sacrificing their lives for others," Piazza said.
Nevertheless, Carol still gives credit to Piazza for that moment.
"He will always be a hero in my eyes, making my children smile like that," she said.
