But when it comes to tales from my fellow midlifers, I most often find myself reading about regret and claustrophobia, fantasies surreptitiously indulged, old flames cyberstalked (including the agony of whether to hit “send” on that “Hey, you won’t believe who this is!” e-mail message), children occupying center stage as our ailing parents wait in the wings for our care ... while out of the spotlight, dangling unnoticed in the rigging, is the incredible shrinking spouse.
Source: wiktionary