What nine months of silence taught me about conflict — and connection STEVE WALKER MAY 07, 2026 When I was fourteen, my father and I had a serious conflict. I don’t need to go into the details. What matters is what happened after: I stopped talking to him. For nine months, I gave him silence. At the time, the silence felt like control. Safety. Independence. Necessary. When it was over — my mother finally begged me to talk to him and I did — it wasn’t because anything had been