These days, progress is a peanut butter and jelly sandwich to Rosemarie Rossetti.

The 45-year-old owner of Rossetti Enterprises is taking a break from her business to undergo physical therapy after a tragic bicycling accident.

Change comes slow but doesn't go unnoticed.

"Yesterday, I made a peanut butter and jelly sandwich while standing at the counter with one crutch. To me, that was a milestone,'' she said.

She's not one to shy away from a challenge, but Rossetti found one thrust abruptly upon her in the summer of 1997, when a rotten tree fell on her while biking with her husband in Granville.

The accident paralyzed her from the waist down.

"My life changed in an instant,'' she told the annual conference of Wings -- Women in New Growth Stages -- at Veterans Memorial yesterday.

She's since regained feeling in her legs, but not her feet, and regularly uses a wheelchair.

The accident occurred three days after her third wedding anniversary. Just five months earlier, she had left a 15-year teaching career at Ohio State University to launch her company -- a consulting business that helps employers train workers and communicate with them.

Rossetti has three degrees, including a doctorate in agricultural education, and has written a book, The Healthy Indoor Plant, currently in its fourth printing.

Her short speech yesterday, given to a crowd of mostly women, ended on an inspirational note.

"The impossible is likely to be possible,'' she said.

Wings highlights and celebrates women in business, especially those who have overcome obstacles. The daylong event featured workshops and a networking session.

Wings was founded in 1995 by Karen McVey, a former account executive for Cheryl & Co. It aims to link women through e-mail, special events and a weekly radio program.

Doreen Luke, 44, of Gahanna was recognized with the Wings award. Growing up in West Virginia, Luke supplemented her family's income with a paper route and, at age 16, ran the household when her mother died and her father battled alcoholism.

Luke left Appalachia as a young adult, then worked while taking college classes, eventually earning a master's in electrical engineering from Lehigh University in Bethlehem, Pa.

In 1996, she was crowned Ms. United States; in 1988, she won the title Mrs. Ohio-America. Today, she's a division manager at AT&T.

Luke said her pageant titles opened doors, enabling her to share her story.

She's got more to say today, specifically about her frustration with the demands placed on working women.

Luke lives with her husband and daughter. Her spouse nominated her for the award.

The other winners were Arlena Fitch-Gordon, a manager at the Defense Security Services division of Defense Supply Center; and Suzannah Crowder, a legal assistant in a Downtown law firm.