Dear Annie: I read the letter from the woman who was recently widowed and dinner invitations from friends suddenly stopped. One of the reasons that the invitations stopped is that she, whether or not she knows it, has become a threat to the other marriages. The women are concerned that she will “go after their husbands.”

The invisibility you feel often grows in proportion to how insecure other women are. If they perceive you as attractive or as a threat to their marriages, you’ll quickly find yourself being treated as if you don’t exist.

After my husband left me for someone else, our mutual friends stopped inviting me to their gatherings — only inviting him. One woman, “Sophie,” came to my dental practice with her boys for treatment.