Keep Passing The Open Windows

A long time ago, a friend and I read John Irving's The Hotel New Hampshire...and loved it. Our unnatural love of this bizarre novel was something that we had in common, and our mutual familiarity with Irving's characters, dialogue and imagery became our bond. It became the framework of a lot of our vernacular.
When he went to Ottawa to university, we kept in touch via "snail mail". (Which was of course, the only option, in the 80's.) We prided ourselves on our witty, obscure pop culture references. Each letter outdid the last. We ended every letter with this closer: "Keep passing the open windows!"
In the book, this phrase is used by the family members to remind each other to persevere. As long as you are passing open windows, you have opportunity. (think: falling from a building.... as long as you don't run out of open windows to go into, you aren't out of luck, are you? Once you've stopped passing the open windows, where are you? )
I still use this phrase, but now when I do, I imagine I just seem eccentric, because most of the people I say it to have not read the book. This doesn't really bother me, and I like to think that they can make of it whatever they like. It may mean something entirely different to someone who hasn't read the book. And that's okay with me... it's an evolution.
I have all but lost touch with that friend now. He makes his living as a writer, which makes me proud of him, in my distant, uninvolved way. I hope that he is still passing the open windows, and I really hope that he isn't dancing as fast as he can.