One of my (former??) best friends (36M) only contacts me (34F) through his wife or mom now

One of my oldest friends has been retreating inward over the past several years, now has chronic fatigue syndrome, and if I have any chance at reaching him it's pretty much only via his wife or mom. Usually only his wife posts and responds in our group chat, and she's always the one setting up time for us to get together. I tried sending him a direct text the other day asking what he was up to this weekend and if he wanted to hang out, and after 3 days of ignoring me, his mom texted to invite me to Easter at their house. He did follow up to ask if I got his mom's text. His parents and wife are great, but I don't feel like you can have a friendship by proxy. It's weird. I miss my friend, and we're just one city apart.

Would it be ok for me to bring up to him that I prefer him to respond to me directly? I think he's been incredibly anxious and tired lately and I fear this will make him feel like I'm putting pressure and demanding something from him. What do I do? Is this a non-issue?

TL;DR My chronically tired friend won't text me but his wife and parents will