Every morning at breakfast, Ruth and Lloyd Shular hold hands and, as Lloyd puts it, "associate" — that is, talk about their plans for the day. It's a ritual they've kept going for three quarters of a century: On May 6 they celebrated their 75th anniversary. (They had originally planned to get married in June, but Lloyd was drafted to serve in Korea.) The happy couple have outlived all of their bridesmaids and groomsmen.

Their courtship began in high school in Knoxville, where Lloyd's father, a carpenter, installed the staircase at the Tennessee Theatre. They'd take the bus to see movies, and go to the Orange Julius afterward. After love and marriage came children — one of them not-so-easily. Then Lloyd, who was working for BellSouth, got transferred first to Kingston, Tenn., and finally to Nashville, where they've lived ever since.

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