Thank you for asking!
It would be a great pleasure to meet and listen to my Alias namesake, Gabriel Strand, my Great-Grandfather. He emmigrated from Norway in the early 1860's, right smack dab in the middle of the C.W. he rode the rails and settled in Iowa at the end of the rail line. Looking for work he then hired on with the same railroad as an interpreter since he could speak English. He worked his way up the ladder with the rail company til they finished the 'Driving of the Golden Spike', and yes, he is in that famous picture; he is the one in the black hat, white shirt and black coat.
After the rail line started their regular schedules and were running somewhat smoothly, he returnd to Iowa and settled at the same place he started, buying and selling land and woodlots for rail ties, etc., for various rail companies. He helped establish a community for other Norwegian immigrants, later married his housekeeper and fathered a large family, living til the onset of the Great Depression in the 1930's. His lifetime was chock full of history and I think it would be a treat to listen to him tell about his life during those historic years...leaving your home and sailing for months over icy-cold waters, up rivers through uncharted land, learning a new language as he went further and further West and finally stopping in the midst of a Prairie where Buffalo and Antelope still played, and yes, there were still a few small herds left then.
Yep, I think I'd ask one question: "Great-Grandpa, tell me all about your life...", after that I'd listen, as long as I could.
Best regards and good thinking!
'Ol Gabe