Despite his horrible twist of fate, Chicago area man keeps hopes up for the holidays

CHICAGO (CBS) -- An elderly man from Morton Grove hit a heartbreaking run of bad luck just before the holidays.

First, 86-year-old Loren Benson had his car totaled in a crash in September. In November, his home burned down. Then his son's pick-up truck died. It had been his only transportation to work (yes, he still works full-time at age 86) after his car was wrecked.

Despite all of those setbacks, Benson has kept positive.

"My family has been through a lot through the years, and the way we were raised was you never give up. You keep digging in," he said.

His daughter, Lorile Herlihy, said she felt her father's string of bad luck was a story they needed to share, "because we all should help each other."

"Amen to that," Benson said.

Benson is now staying at a hotel in Rosemont. He said he's looking forward to making his home livable again, and getting together with family for the holidays.

You can watch his and his daughter's full interview with streaming anchor Brad Edwards in the video player at the top of this page.