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(Following the story below is a gallery of photos courtesy of the Harrups.)

Not since John Robert Harrup and Ruby Louise Harrup were children have they had to wonder who they would be celebrating on Valentine’s Day. They have been each other’s valentine for the majority of their lives.

John, who is 87, and Louise, who is 86, are both lifelong residents of Southampton County, and they first started dating in the early 1950s.

They were married Jan. 18, 1959, and celebrated their 66th wedding anniversary about a month ago.

On Friday, Feb. 14, they sat down in their Courtland home and shared their love story with The Tidewater NÅews.

John remembers them meeting in 1949-50 when he was likely a freshman at Drewryville High School, and she was attending Courtland High School.

“She was pitching softball for the Courtland women,” he said. “I was playing baseball for Drewryville up yonder. … Courtland came to Drewryville to play, and she was up there pitching, and she could throw the ball pretty good.”

“Must have attracted him,” Louise said with a smile.

John said, “I don’t know why, but it did.”

He noted that he was probably a junior in high school when they started dating.

Louise alluded to the importance of John making his interest known when she described what attracted her to him.

“I guess when you realize that somebody is kind of watching, observing, it creates some interest there, and I guess that’s what was happening,” she said.

They dated for around five years and established that they had a common faith and trust in God and shared similar life goals. They both had a desire to stay local, and they also both wanted one or two children.

John was offered a full scholarship to go to Duke University and play baseball, but he forewent that opportunity because he did not want to go that far away from home or be that far away from Louise.

John said it was probably in 1957 that he proposed.

“I gave you the diamond on Christmas, I remember that,” he said to Louise.

Louise shared what convinced her that John was the man for her.

“He showed interest in things that I was most interested in,” she said. “Of course, church was most important, and that went on a long time before we ever married.”

Louise attended Courtland Baptist Church. John was a member of a local methodist church, but it did not have services every Sunday, so he would often go to church with Louise when he was free.

It was at Courtland Baptist that they were married in 1959.

“Her daddy was kidding me and said he wasn’t going to let her marry me,” John said. “He was going to refuse to come to the wedding, didn’t he? But he came.”

“He’s in the (photo) album,” Louise said.

Their eldest child, Sharon Harrup, was present for the interview, and noted that her grandfather appeared to have “a pout on” in the pictures.

“He was very cooperative,” Louise said. “He knew (John) saw something nice in me.”

“He was just messing with me,” John said.

“I think so too,” Louise agreed.

Even so, John admitted to being scared on the day, feeling the weight of the responsibility of looking out for a wife and not knowing exactly what to expect.

“They say it was cold (that day), but to me it was not cold,” he said.

He was 21 at the time, and Louise was 20.

They were financially secure, though, as he had a good job as a surveyor with the Virginia Department of Highways.

Louise did not recall being nervous herself on the day.

“We had time to think through what steps we were taking, so too late then,” she said.

John and Louise have always lived in Southampton County, first renting a place in downtown Courtland.

They lived elsewhere after that, but the Courtland house they live in now was built in 1976, and they have lived there ever since then.

They wanted at least one or two children, and John said, “We got two. We lost one in between them,” he said, referencing a miscarriage.

Sharon was born in April 1960, and her sister Janice was born in July 1963.

Louise worked different clerical jobs over the years for Southampton High School and Union Camp, and she washed hair at a beauty salon as well.

Sharon said, “She quit work when I was born and then went back to work when my sister started in first grade, so she was home while we were at home. And then when we started back to school, she went back to work.”

After working for the highway department, John worked for a private surveying outfit named S.V. Camp, and he also served as the county’s commissioner of revenue.

Both Louise and John reflected on their 66 years of marriage.

“I’ve always thought the good Lord led me to my decisions even on up to dating, marriage, children, family, public working,” Louise said. “So really and truly my trust in the good Lord and His works stands out, No. 1. I have no regrets.”

She acknowledged that marriage can be difficult at times.

“I won’t say it hasn’t been a piece of cake the whole time, but the good Lord has heard our prayers,” she said.

“He’s looked out for us,” John said.

John noted that he has appreciated how down-to-earth Louise is.

“What you see is what you get,” he said.

Identifying the key ingredients of a successful, long-lasting relationship like theirs, Louise once again pointed to God.

“You have to trust and obey,” she said, and John quickly added, “That’s right.”