Some people just don't know what to say at times. At least now you know communication is something you highly value in a partner and you can tell the next person you are interested in what your expectation is.

I have a friend who needs a lot of communication. I often need to think about what to say to her. I sometimes have to tell her I don't know what to say and need some time to put my thoughts together. Would a response like that work for you? If she hadn't told me long ago that no response caused her feelings of abandonment and fear of being unimportant I wouldn't have known I needed to tell her I wasn't ready to respond. Could you picture yourself explaining why you need a response ?

It's hard when expectations aren't met. It's hard for the people who don't live up to them too. I think it's good to figure out why and find a compromise in a conflict like this.