Birthdays and Christmas: two days on the calendar when you are given gifts while friends and family gather to celebrate. But what happens when those days coincide? Mike Draeger was born Dec. 26 -- the day after Christmas. He spent his childhood seeing his special day rolled in together with the holidays.

"I don't like it," Draeger says. "Most people don't think of my birthday until the last minute or they forget about it altogether."

Draeger is not alone. In fact, a quick look at the social networking Web site Facebook.com unearthed no less than a half-dozen groups with 1,200 people whose birthday falls between Dec. 23 and 26.

"I like it this year, seeing as it's my 21st," explains Jimmy Lemke, a student at UWM. "Otherwise, it will be pretty much status quo; I haven't had a party since I was 16, but I'll use it as an excuse to get free drinks from people."

Like Draeger, Lemke will celebrate his birthday a day after Christmas. He explains that he would get extra presents from his parents, but soon caught on to the fact that the "combination presents" he got from other relatives were along the lines of the gifts his cousins and siblings were getting.

The holiday, he says, has a tendency to rain on his parade but gives him an excuse to spend time with his friends.

"At family functions on Christmas, I'll get the 'Oh, it's your birthday tomorrow ... how nice.' Then they move on to other conversations," Lemke says. "Some years, my friends and I went to a movie and when I was a kid, we went to the Zoo once. Last year, we waited another day past my birthday and went to the UWM-Wyoming game."

Lemke and Draeger have differing views. While Draeger would gladly switch his birthday to a non-holiday date, Lemke relishes in its novelty.

"It's more fun to tell people I was born the day after Christmas than if I had a generic birthday like March 8," he says. "It sparks a conversation and makes me enjoy December that much more."

It's not just those celebrating Christmas getting a raw deal, either. Muhammad Ahmad is a 22-year-old in his second year as a medical student at the Medical College of Wisconsin. He'll celebrate his 23rd birthday Dec. 25.

As a practicing Muslim, Ahmad doesn't celebrate Christmas Day as Christians do. Still, he thinks having his birthday on the holiday makes it more special.

"I enjoy having a birthday that falls on Christmas Day," Ahmad says. "In the very least, Christmas Day is a unique day of joy and optimism to all people. Needless to say, birthdays are of the same theme. I find privilege in being able to share my own personal celebration as part of a greater celebration in communion with others."

Even though the Islamic religion doesn't celebrate the holiday, Ahmad's family often spends the day focusing on the same things as their Christian neighbors: family, faith, blessings, love and traditions. And he still recognizes that his special day falls on a special day that many other people recognize for different reasons.

"Christmas makes my birthday a bigger deal," he says. "My birthday falls on universally special day in American culture, global culture and religious culture. All are impressions I am proud of and embrace. So, while I honor every birthday on every day of the year, the unity that this particular day brings across the world is truly special to those who celebrate birthdays on Christmas Day."

Having grown older, he's also started celebrating in different ways than he did as a student.

"My birthday is not celebrated like my Marquette days of wild parties and drinking," Ahmad says. "My birthday is celebrated with my family, fulfilling optimism in my family's values with a personal sense of spiritual blessing."

This year, though, Ahmad will spend his birthday with textbooks.

"Medical school is hard," he says.