Belated reply re: "the" wife

[No Name Available]

 I guess I see the difference between "in college/the hospital/the
house/school" and "at (the) college/the hospital/the house/school" as an
aspectual issue.  "in (the) __" represents longer duration, covering a much
longer period of time than does "at (the) _," which indicates shorter periods
of time.  Maybe it's the difference between a continuous (stative) and
continual (repetitive) situation.
                                PAT