Funeral costs defrayed by social-media friends

LYNN – Thanks to a lot of friends who took their cue from social media, Cara and Alina Garrity will be able to hold funeral services today for their mother, Barbara, who died of cancer last week.For a while, it was touch and go on whether that would happen.Garrity, an occupational therapist in the Lynn school system, found out she had cancer early last year, and was still on sick leave when she died. Her two daughters went to the city, expecting to find some type of life insurance policy they could use for the funeral expenses.There wasn?t any.?It could be that she never took one out,” said Cara Garrity, 22, Barbara?s oldest daughter. “We?re not sure. We just couldn?t track one down in time to pay for the funeral.”The Garritys, who are going through Solimine Funeral Homes (who, they say, have gone above and beyond to help them), ended up turning to their grandmother, Mary Jane Schmidt, who had to use two credit cards to pay the $15,000 it cost for the services and the cemetery plot in Concord, where Barbara Garrity was born.?Putting it on Nana was hard,” said Cara. “She?s 86, and she?s going through the grief of losing her daughter ? and now, this financial burden on top of this ?”The Garritys don?t have anyone else to speak of to help them. Their father has his own issues, and wasn?t able to be of much assistance.?We didn?t want to postpone her funeral,” Cara said. “It?s hard to do that.”While the two women were trying to figure out how this was going to get resolved, Alina Garrity?s boyfriend, Sean Ryan of Haverhill (they both go to UMass-Amherst), decided to start a fundraising effort on gofundme.com and spread the word of the women?s predicament through Facebook.?He was listening to us talk about it, and what were we going to do to help pay back my grandmother for what she had to take out, and that?s what he did,” Alina said of Ryan.The Garritys have seen their friends chip in to the tune of more than $12,000 as of Sunday afternoon. And, because of that, they were able to schedule a wake Sunday and a funeral today at Solimine.?We?ve been so surprised, and so grateful at our friends? generosity and support,” Cara Garrity said. “This is such a relief.”Naturally, their emotions about this are mixed.?It?s awful to lose our mother,” Alina Garrity said. “Then, on top of that, the whole financial aspect was scary, and we were worried that we?d have to postpone the funeral. My grandmother is grieving because her daughter has died, and then she has to do what she did. This has all been very stressful.?But what has happened since has been so heartwarming and overwhelming,” she said. “We?re just so grateful.”