Renee is trying to break away from the ‘Mob Wives’ lifestyle and create her own life for her and her son AJ!

Mob Wives star Renee Graziano is trying to define herself outside of “the lifestyle.” And she’s trying to help her son do the same.

She wants to create her own life without the influence of others associated with her background — and Renee tells HollywoodLife.com that her 17-year-old son AJ inspired her to change … because she doesn’t want this life for him!

“I wouldn’t want my son to go to jail,” Renee tells us. “AJ is going in a completely different direction. He’s going to make himself a better life.”

Renee is tired of seeing her son go through the heartaches that the lifestyle causes like watching his father Junior possibly get locked up again. “It breaks me emotionally,” she explains. “Watching your child feel pain makes you angry, very angry. It’s probably harder than anything anyone has to do.”

But Renee is learning from AJ. “I want to take the pain from my son in any way, shape or form,” she says. “Watching him experience it is making me much stronger.”

So strong in fact that Renee wants to become independent herself. “I lived an empty life,” she admits. Now, “I’m trying to change my life and define myself outside of the way I was brought up.”

“I feel strong but sad” to be leaving the old ways behind, Renee continues. But with her friend and co-star Karen Gravano‘s help, she is realizing she doesn’t want to live this way anymore.

“I have such strong beliefs on my loyalty to a life that I don’t belong in,” says Renee. “Karen is showing me that I can be as loyal as I want to my family, but I don’t need to take on a lifestyle that is members only — only male members.”

“I am learning how to pick and chose my battles wisely,” says Renee. “I would like to see myself happily ever after with someone outside the state of New York.”

BFFs — do you think Renee made the right decision to leave her Mob Wives life behind? Tell us what you think!

– Lindsey DiMattina

More Mob Wives Stories:

1. Karen Gravano: I Wasn’t In The Witness Protection!
2. Mob Wives Party In NYC!
3. Karen’s Brave To Come Back To Staten Island!

Renee Graziano is, by all appearances, the most daunting of the fearsome assemblage of women that make up the cast of Mob Wives. It comes as somewhat of a surprise then that Renee, by all accounts, has stayed on the right side of the law her entire life. This is not however the case for her father, Anthony Graziano, and her ex-husband, Junior.

Renee’s father Anthony was a high ranking member of La Cosa Nostra according to the Federal Government and is currently serving time in North carolina. In March of 2002, Anthony was indicted for charges including bookmaking, murder of a rival gangster, and conspiracy to commit murder in New York. That same month he was indicted in Florida on charges including illegal gambling and investment fraud. he was sentenced to eleven years in Florida, nine in new York and is serving two sentences concurrently, slated to be released in early 2012.

Renee’s ex-husband Junior meanwhile was arrested in January of 2011 in the largest mafia bust in New York City history, bringing in 125 suspects. The exact charge is unknown but will likely be revealed as the show was filming at the time of his arrest.

The business woman in Renee has luckily seen the bright side of this all — she’s started a greeting card company called Jail Mail.
GET MORE ON ‘MOB WIVES!’

1. MEET THE WOMEN OF ‘MOB WIVES!’
2. ‘MOB WIVES’ RECAP — THESE LADIES ARE CRAZY!