Cathy Perfect/Kern Valley Sun

The project – belatedly dubbed Operation Christmas Card – took planning. It took time. And, in the end, some finger-crossing.

It began last fall when Tammy Howard, a Woodrow Wallace Middle School teacher, heard from her sister, Fran Metzker. It seems Metzker’s granddaughter Whitney Johnson– Howard’s great-niece – was looking for a way to boost her fiancé’s spirits during the Christmas holidays.

U.S. Air Force Staff Sergeant Austin Stevens, left, drove from Sacramento on Friday to meet and personally thank the Wallace Middle School students in Tammy Howard’s English class who created handcrafted Christmas cards for Stevens and shipped them to him while he was stationed in Afghanistan. Stevens was especially touched by Tyler Bernstein’s card. Blind since birth, Bernstein’s card was written in braille.

Her sweetheart, U.S. Air Force Staff Sergeant Austin Stevens, was on a six-month tour in southern Afghanistan and would be away from family, friends, and home at Christmas time.

“It started with family,” Howard said. “Then I brought the idea of making Christmas cards for Austin to my students.”

“You should have seen the cards they made,” said Metzker. “The cards were beautiful. Tyler’s card really touched Austin’s heart because Tyler is blind.”

“We were working on this in November,” Howard said, “and when you ship a package to servicemen and women serving overseas, you’re never really sure if it will arrive on time.”

The package arrived on base five days before Christmas. Speaking to the class, Stevens said, “I receivered your cards Christmas night. Coming back to my room and finding that box of Christmas cards was awesome,” Stevens said. “To open it up and see the well-wishes and, especially, the thanks for my service was awesome. It meant a lot to me. To be there (in Afghanistan) was different. With no family and no Christmas trees.”

The 24-year-old Stevens’ enlistment is up in a couple of weeks, and, for now, he’s adjusting to life in the United States. “It’s different, but it’s good to be home,” he said with a broad smile.

Stevens and Johnston will return to their home town, Myrtle Point, Ore. and plan an August wedding.

Asked if he’d return to the Kern River Valley for another visit, Austin immediately replied, “Absolutely. I’ll be back.”